The giant panda is naturally living in mountain forests of southwest China. They have got white and black fur. Adult pandas are about 150 cm from nose to rump, with a 10-15 cm tail and an adult panda can weigh up to 150 kg, with males 10% larger and 20% heavier than females.
In September 2016 panda was downgraded from ‘Endangered’ to ‘Vulnerable’ species on the global list of species at risk of extinction.
Why are pandas endangered?
One of the reasons why pandas are in danger of extinction is the destruction of their habitat. There are more and more people in China, so they need an area for themselves. A place to live for people is made by devastating forests and meadows, where animals live. Panda’s forests are also degraded because of gathering of wood and collecting herbs by local people.
Other factor destructing panda’s habitat are tourists, who want to see pandas in their natural environment – irony, isn’t it?
There is also a problem with poaching. For many years pandas were killed for their fur. Today this is declining and there are great penalties for it. There is also the disapproval of society for such action, but unfortunately, it still occurs. Pandas also suffer from poaching for other animals- in most cases pandas are killed because they found a trap prepared not for them.
But it isn’t only humans’ fault. Panda can eat meat, other vegetables, small rodents, eggs and – as everyone knows – bamboo. They have to eat 10-20 kg of bamboo each day, due to its low nutritional value. We don’t know why they seem to like bamboo the most, but we know one thing: they have got problems with digesting it, so they have to save energy for it. And that’s why they are lazy. And they don’t want to have sex.
Pandas are ready to reproduce when they are 3-4 years old and can get pregnant only for a few days each spring. They are pregnant for 90-160 days. And after birth, there is another problem –a panda-mother will take care only of one of her children, so even if there are more bears to raise, only one will have a chance to survive, because there is a lot of natural danger for a little bear – other animals and human actions.
Cheer up, it’s not that bad!
There are more pandas than before, so the situation is getting better. There are people who make the situation of pandas worse, but there are definitely more people who care about pandas and help them. For example, there are institutes where people help pandas to get pregnant and to take care of newborns. If there are more bears born, workers of the institute replace little bears so that their mother could take care of them both. When they are ready, they are released in wild, so they can live as they should have from the very beginning.
If you want to help them, visit this page to get more information!
Bibliography:
-http://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/giant-panda-no-longer-endangered -http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/giant_panda/ -http://www.animalfactguide.com/animal-facts/giant-panda/
-http://www.buzzle.com/images/animal-kingdom/bears/giant-panda-geographical-range.jpg -http://institute.sandiegozoo.org
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| Where you can find panda |
Why are pandas endangered?
One of the reasons why pandas are in danger of extinction is the destruction of their habitat. There are more and more people in China, so they need an area for themselves. A place to live for people is made by devastating forests and meadows, where animals live. Panda’s forests are also degraded because of gathering of wood and collecting herbs by local people.
Other factor destructing panda’s habitat are tourists, who want to see pandas in their natural environment – irony, isn’t it?
There is also a problem with poaching. For many years pandas were killed for their fur. Today this is declining and there are great penalties for it. There is also the disapproval of society for such action, but unfortunately, it still occurs. Pandas also suffer from poaching for other animals- in most cases pandas are killed because they found a trap prepared not for them.
But it isn’t only humans’ fault. Panda can eat meat, other vegetables, small rodents, eggs and – as everyone knows – bamboo. They have to eat 10-20 kg of bamboo each day, due to its low nutritional value. We don’t know why they seem to like bamboo the most, but we know one thing: they have got problems with digesting it, so they have to save energy for it. And that’s why they are lazy. And they don’t want to have sex.
Pandas are ready to reproduce when they are 3-4 years old and can get pregnant only for a few days each spring. They are pregnant for 90-160 days. And after birth, there is another problem –a panda-mother will take care only of one of her children, so even if there are more bears to raise, only one will have a chance to survive, because there is a lot of natural danger for a little bear – other animals and human actions.
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| Pandas |
There are more pandas than before, so the situation is getting better. There are people who make the situation of pandas worse, but there are definitely more people who care about pandas and help them. For example, there are institutes where people help pandas to get pregnant and to take care of newborns. If there are more bears born, workers of the institute replace little bears so that their mother could take care of them both. When they are ready, they are released in wild, so they can live as they should have from the very beginning.
If you want to help them, visit this page to get more information!
Bibliography:
-http://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/giant-panda-no-longer-endangered -http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/giant_panda/ -http://www.animalfactguide.com/animal-facts/giant-panda/
-http://www.buzzle.com/images/animal-kingdom/bears/giant-panda-geographical-range.jpg -http://institute.sandiegozoo.org
Comments
According how much you paid and if it was paid once or you are going to pay every week you can get certificate, certificate + letter about your adopted animal or certificate + letter about your adopted animal + photo of your animal.
It is sad that you can't take care of your animal, that you can't pet it. I know that it makes sense to not to touch a wild animal, but still - I agree that this is a disadvantage ;)
This must have made more resilient as a species, since in the present time the more they are protected the more they are endangered. Humans have to dress up as pandas to somehow keep them alive. Perhaps it's the odd interference of men (odd - meaning non-aggressive) into their lives that actually makes them so difficult to keep out of extinction. With constant protection and supervision, they might have lost their natural sense of survival, got lazy, stopped having sex and started eating bamboo.
Pandas who are ready to live on their own are set free to bamboo forests, so they will take care of their species. And panda-clothes are wear, so pandas won't get used to people, but to other pandas (I believe that they are using some panda smell also)
E.g. http://explore.org/live-cams/player/china-panda-cam-4
It sounds stupid, but there are some moments in my life when I sit in front of the computer and watch :) it's addictive! You can observe they really eat a lot! To be honest, I didn't know it's between 10-20kg/day. I know a little bit about horses. They can eat about 10kg/day. But they weigh about 500kg (not 100-150!).
It's nice to see the WWF link. Some time ago I cooperated with WWF. Then I realize that small things such giving a link also help. :) Thanks to you somebody may forward or even donate. People don't realize how important is every penny.
Yes, they eat a lot, but their food isn't really valuable, so they have to compensate it somehow.
What surprised me it that China owns all the pandas. If you've got some pandas at your local zoo, they're probably on loan. Moving animals around for breeding is common, but for-profit rental at this scale may be unique to the bamboo-munching bears. I read that in Edinburgh pandas are rented from the Chinese government for 10 years and zoo pays £600,000 a year for the pair!! Horrible money...
What surprises me the most is how could they eat 10-20 kg a day and weigh only up to 150kg?! How is this possible?
I haven’t heard before that panda has problems with digestion their favorite product - bamboo. It’s so mysterious for me, why evolution made those cute animals so unadapted to life.
The fact that the number of pandas increased made me smile. It’s such a pleasure to realize that there are kind people on this planet, who care about other species.
After finishing university I’d like to visit China as a volunteer to help wild animals survive. I think it’s a great way to make the world an even better place to live.
volunteers they wouldn't be able to help as much as they can now.
I heard that it isn't a coincidence that brown pandas are rare, because they are rejected by mothers, so in the nature they have got no chance to survive.
Illegal hunting is cause of problems of many spieces.
I think that will it be the best if you see it with your own eyes :)
http://en.kunming.cn/index/content/2009-11/11/content_2009501.htm
By the way, did any of you know that there is also the red panda? You can see it in Warsaw zoo.
More info at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panda_pornography
Have you heard their noises? :D
There already are people doing that professionally in China. The Conservation And Research Center For The Giant Panda offers $32,000 yearly for hugging baby pandas all day long.
How do I know all that? Simple - all you need to do is carefully watch the panda TV:
http://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/cams/panda-cam
We think that we are the main species and if we let ourselfs to feel as the best we also should feel responsibility for the weaker. Innocent animals who were wronged by people need from us some kind of compensation and i hope we will not ignore it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3tNgwQwKK4
also I found a cool polish word puzzle:
http://c.wrzuta.pl/wi10175/095ad25d001da34d4ff2dd91