The World Wildlife Fund made a pretty big announcement Sunday . . . giant pandas are no longer an endangered species.

The number of pandas in the wild in China is up about 17% in the last decade. And two-thirds of them are on nature preserves where they’re protected.

Obviously this doesn’t mean you can go all Cecil-the-Lion and start HUNTING them or anything. They’ve just been downgraded from “endangered” to “vulnerable.”

But it’s pretty rare for animals to be taken off the list without dying out. Only about 1% of endangered species have EVER managed to make it off the list. So it’s a big deal.

(Time / Independent)