Giant panda eating bamboo, Chengdu, China (© Suzi Eszterhas/Minden Pictures)
Do you like scrolling through lighthearted videos of giant pandas wobbling around? These bamboo-munching creatures, with their distinctive black and white coats and playful demeanor, have captivated hearts for years. So much so that in 1961, the World Wide Fund for Nature adopted the animal as its iconic logo. In 2016, pandas were reclassified from an endangered to a vulnerable species. Habitat loss, fragmentation, and poaching have contributed to their declining population in the wild. To curb the threat, the Chinese government built approximately 50 reserves. However, with fewer than 2,000 giant pandas remaining in the wild, the fight to protect them is far from over.