Habitats for wild animals keep expanding in China: white paper

BEIJING, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- The habitats for wild animals in China have been expanding and their populations are growing, said a white paper released on Friday by the State Council Information Office.

The population of giant pandas in the wild has grown from 1,114 to 1,864 over the past four decades. The crested ibis population has increased from only seven to over 5,000, according to the white paper titled "Biodiversity Conservation in China."

The Asian elephant population in the wild has grown from 180 in the 1980s to about 300 at present. The wild population of Hainan Gibbon has increased from no more than ten in two groups 40 years ago to 35 in five groups.

The captive pandas have grown in numbers, and they have been downgraded from "endangered" to "vulnerable" on the list of species at risk of extinction, according to the white paper.