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| Source: Animal Wikia |
INTRODUCTION
Giant Pandas are some of the most beloved and beautiful animals in the world. They are one of the world’s best known species because of their black and white coat and prominent black eye patches. However, the ‘Bamboo Bear’ is among the shyest and rarest animals in the world.
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| Source: Animal Fact Guide |
Family:
Ursidae
Genus
and species: Ailuropoda melanoleuca (meaning
'black and white cat-foot').
CLASSIFICATION
Scientists
weren’t really sure if giant pandas were indeed bears or possibly closer related
to raccoons. But studies of panda DNA have confirmed the panda's relationship
with bears and are now classified as part of the bear family because of their
similarity to other bears in their general looks and the way they walk and
climb.
GEOGRAPHIC
DISTRIBUTION
The
giant panda was once widely found throughout southern and eastern China, as
well as neighbouring Myanmar and northern Vietnam. They once lived in lowland
areas, too, but due to human activities such as farming, forest clearing, and
other development they are restricted to the mountains. Giant pandas they
naturally inhabit the remote, mountain forests. Due to expanding human populations and development, the species is restricted
to 20 isolated patches of bamboo forest in six mountain ranges in China's
Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. Wild pandas still remaining live in the
Minshan and Qinling mountains. |
| Source: Animal Fact Guide |
Giant pandas live at elevations between 5,000 and 10,000 feet in broadleaf and coniferous forests with a dense understory of bamboo. Torrential rains or dense mist throughout the year occur, often covered in heavy clouds. High bamboo forests are cool and wet—just as pandas like it and perfect for their needs. They will climb 13,000 feet (3,962 m) up the mountains of their home area to feed on higher slopes in the summer. Giant pandas make their dens from hollowed-out logs or stumps of conifer trees found within the forest.
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| Source: WWF |
PHYSICAL
DESCRIPTION
They
are also called great pandas, parti-coloured bears, bamboo bears, and white
bears. It has a body typical of bears. Giant pandas are distinguished from
other pandas by their large size and black-and-white colouring. Giant pandas
are identified by their distinctive black and white colouring. It has black fur
on ears, eye patches, muzzle, legs, and shoulders. The rest of the animal's
coat is white. Speculation about why they are black and white relates to the
bold colouring provides effective camouflage into their shade-dappled snowy and
rocky surroundings. Their thick, woolly coat keeps it warm in the cool forests
of its habitat. Giant pandas have large molar teeth and strong jaw muscles for
crushing tough bamboo. They have a special bone
that extends from their wrists called a “pseudo-thumb” to hold and manipulate
bamboo. |
| Source: National Geographic Kids UK |
They are about the same size of an American black bear, giant pandas stand between two and three feet tall at the shoulder (on all four legs), and reach four to six feet long. Males are larger than females, weighing up to 250 pounds in the wild. Females rarely reach 220 pounds.
POPULATION
There are an estimated 1,600 giant pandas left in the
wild and is extremely endangered. More than 300 pandas live in breeding centres
and zoos. Because Giant Pandas in the wild or rare and elusive, most of what we
know about them comes from studying zoo animals.
DIET
Giant
Pandas are omnivores as they eat both vegetation and meat. They have
especially an insatiable appetite for bamboo as a wild giant panda’s diet consist
almost exclusively (99 per cent) of bamboo. There are about 20 different species
of bamboo that pandas will eat and is the most important plant in their life. They
eat half the day—a full 12 out of every 24 hours!—and relieves itself dozens of
times a day. Due to the low nutritional value of bamboo, pandas need to forage
and eat 10-20 kg (20-40 lb.) a day to satisfy their daily dietary needs. The
giant panda's stomach is ideal for digesting bamboo. The walls of the stomach
are extra-muscular to digest the wood of the bamboo. The stomach is also
covered inside with mucus that prevents it from being punctured by splinters. Occasionally
pandas will eat other available food and the balance comprises of other grasses
and, occasionally, small rodents, fish, birds, or musk deer fawns. A panda eats
while sitting upright, in a pose that resembles how humans sit on the floor.
This posture leaves the front paws free to grasp bamboo stems. An evolutionary trait is their protruding wrist bone that acts like a thumb
to help hold bamboo while they munch on it with their strong molar teeth. The
giant panda has the largest molar teeth of any carnivore. Their strong jaws are
capable of crushing bamboo stems up to 4cm in diameter. They use their teeth to
peel off the tough outer layers of the stalk to reveal the soft inner tissue. 
Water: Wild giant pandas get most of the required water from bamboo, a grass whose contents are about half water. But they need more than just what bamboo can provide. Therefore, they also drink fresh water from rivers and streams that are fed by melting snowfall in high mountain peaks.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
Adult
giant pandas are normally solitary, but they are able to communicate occasionally
through scent marks, calls, and sporadic meetings. Offspring stay with their
mothers until they are about three years old.  |
| Source: International Business Times |
LIFE SPAN
Giant Pandas living in the wild, have shorter lifespans than in zoos and is approximately 20 years. Zoo pandas can live up to 35 years.
REPRODUCTION
Giant pandas reach breeding maturity when they are four to eight years old. They may be reproductive until about age 20. Female pandas ovulate only once a year, in the spring. The only time she is able to conceive is a very short period of two to three days around ovulation. In this short time, male and female pandas find each other through scents and calls. Female giant pandas give birth in a nest of bamboo after five months (between 95 and 160 days) after mating. In her lifetime, she may successfully raise only five to eight cubs. It is possible to give birth to two young, but only one usually survives as the mother can’t care for both.
The new born cub is blind, hairless, and tiny, weighing
only 85-140 g (3-5 oz.) (about the size of a butter stick) and the length of a
pencil (about 15 cm). They are born pink/white, and develop their much-loved
colouring later. They only open their eyes six to eight weeks after birth.
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| Source: Huffington Post Australia |
Except
for a marsupial (such as the kangaroo), a giant panda baby is the smallest
mammal new born relative to its mother's size. The mother takes great care of
her fragile and tiny cub by cradling it in one paw and holding it close to her
chest. Interestingly, for several days after birth, the mother does not leave
the den not even to eat or drink.
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| Source: Daily Mail |
Mothers are protective and careful tending to
her cub as it is completely helpless and can’t move much on its own for nearly
3 months. A cub is nutritionally weaned at one year, but not
socially weaned for up to two years. Cubs may stay
with their mothers for up to two to three years until it is independent enough
to establish its own territory.
Sadly,
the giant pandas’ naturally slow breeding rate prevents a population from
recovering quickly from illegal hunting, habitat loss, and other human-related
causes of mortality.
BEHAVIOUR
Pandas are frequently seen eating in a relaxed sitting posture, with their hind legs stretched out before them. Although they appear to be sedentary, they’re skilled tree-climbers and efficient swimmers. They do not roar like other bears. Giant pandas are loners and have a heightened sense of smell to let them know when another panda is nearby so it can be avoided. If another comes into close contact, they will swat, growl and even bite. Their territory is about 1.9 square miles (5 square kilometers) and they mark it by secreting a waxy scent marker that they rub on their territory. Males will use their smelling ability to find a female when they are ready to mate. When they are not eating for almost half the entire day, they either sleep or rest.
OTHER FACTS
·
It is a highly
specialized animal, with unique adaptations.· When danger from predators (such as brown bears and wild dogs) is imminent, pandas can take refuge in the nearest tree due to its paws being broad with long retractile claws and furry undersides which help to grip when climbing.
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| Source: How Stuff Works |
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| Source: Pure Travel |
· Even though they are regarded as cute and cuddly, they are just as dangerous as any other bear.
· The panda also has a significance for World Wildlife Fund because it has been WWF's logo since our founding in 1961.
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| Source: WWF |
STATUS
The
giant panda is listed as endangered in the World
Conservation Union's (IUCN's) Red List of Threatened Species. There are
about 1,600 left in the wild. More
than 300 pandas live in zoos and
breeding centres, mostly in China.  |
| Source: Arkive |
THREATS
One of the primary reasons why pandas are endangered is
due to the fact that habitat destruction frequently occurs as the population
grow and development takes place. This forces them to live in smaller, less livable
areas. It also leads to food shortages and possibly starvation because bamboo
varieties bloom at different times of the year and then they won’t have
anything to eat during the time it normally blooms. Clearing of areas for crop
cultivation and infrastructure, and logging for timber and fuel wood occur. Fragmenting
of forests isolates panda populations and prevents them from breeding. As human
settlements curb the pandas’ habitat, it hampers pandas’ ability to migrate and
which could also lead to starvation. Another reason is the natural die-back of the local variety of bamboo.
What is
being done to conserve pandas?
Sanctuaries have been established with sufficient space
for 500-600 pandas in order to increase pandas’ numbers. Scientists are
studying the animal’s habits and instituting conservation programs. One crucial way to ensure pandas’ survival is
to establish new reserves and extending existing ones. Bamboo corridors have been developed to link isolated pockets of forest,
allowing the pandas within them to move to new areas, find more food and meet
more potential breeding mates. China has a network of 67 panda reserves, which safeguard more than 66% of
the giant pandas in the wild and almost 54% of their existing habitat.
CRUCIAL ROLE IN FORESTS
Pandas play a decisive role in the bamboo forests where
they roam because they are able to spread seeds and facilitate vegetation growth.
One of the many reasons that we must save this species is the fact that we are
primarily responsible for them being endangered. Another reason is the fact
that we will provide a lifeline for a host of other endangered animals,
including the golden snub-nosed monkey, takin and crested ibis that share the
forests with the panda.
CONCLUSION
This distinctive black and white animal is adored all
over the world. There is still much more that can be learned from these elusive
animals. It is important that they are protected indefinitely. So, please do
your part to save these wonderful animals.
REFERENCES
http://www.animalfactguide.com/animal-facts/giant-panda/http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/giant-panda/
http://kids.sandiegozoo.org/animals/mammals/giant-panda
http://www.livescience.com/27335-giant-pandas.html
https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/giantpandas/pandafacts/
http://www.ngkids.co.uk/animals/ten-panda-facts
http://www.onekind.org/education/animals_a_z/panda_giant/
http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/giant-panda
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/giant_panda/panda/where_panda_lives_habitat/
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/giant_panda/problems/
http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/giant_panda/panda/why_we_save_the_giant_panda/
