China's Giant Panda, once a symbol of wildlife conservation, is no longer regarded as an endangered species.
The news follows a reclassification of the species from endangered to critical by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The number of the species have since rebounded to 1,864 following a low of approximately 800 in 1985.
Speaking on the report, the IUCN stated that work by Chinese agencies to expand habitat reserves and the enforcement of poaching bans were key in reviving a dwindling population. Also responsible was the designation of UNESCO World Heritage Status to the only natural habitat in 2006, when panda sanctuaries and strongholds in the south-west Sichuan Province were declared to be the richest botanical sites of any temperate region apart from tropical rain forests.
The reclassification follows reports of collapsing gorillas populations in east Africa, where poaching and the destruction of natural habitats have moved the species just one classification away from extinction.
As of this year, two thirds of great ape species - humans' nearest relatives - are now critically endangered.
