The Rare Giant Panda

The Rare Giant Panda

We more commonly know Ailuropoda Melanoleuca as the giant

panda. Armand David, a missionary from France, was exploring the high altitudes of China in 1869. David encountered the magnificent giant panda while he was foraging through the dense bamboo, rhododendron, and coniferous forests. Now, more than 1000 years after Armand’s discovery, our love for the panda has joined with the effort to keep them from extinction. We have so much more to learn about this glorious mammal.

The giant panda is a very significant animal, and has been since the day of its discovery. When Armand David first saw this creature, he thought that it was just a bear, but the coloring was different than any of the bears he had heard of or seen before. Black and white, the giant panda’s distinguishing colors set the panda aside from other bears. It has black fur on its ears, over the eyes-like eye patches, muzzle, legs, and shoulders. Other remaining parts of the body are white. Scientists are not sure about how the panda got its colors. Some theologize that the contrasting black and white are so they stand out in the forest, making it easier to find each other to mate. Others say that the coloring of the panda is to camouflage them in the treetops of the forests.

Panda’s have been classified into the scientific categories based on their characteristics. They belong in the Mammalia class, Carnivora order, and Ursidae family. These are all very closely related to those of other bears. Like the other bear creatures, panda’s have short tails-they are only about four inches in length. The panda bear’s size is also similar to other bear species. Adult pandas weigh somewhere between 75 and 300 pounds, depending on their sex, age, and environmental factors. When a panda struts across the turf, it does not look like the other types of bears. A panda’s clumsy gait signifies that the black and white mammal isn’t your typical bear. Although pandas do not have a very sturdy walk, it is considered to be one of the best climbers of the bear species.

Giant pandas become mature between four and eight years old. As the

Spring months-March, April, and May approach, the mature pandas prepare

themselves, for the mating season. After becoming pregnant, the mother carries the baby for about 135 days. However, true gestation for the baby only takes about 50 days. At birth, the newborn weighs about five ounces (140 grams), or about the size of a stick of butter. In some cases, the mother gives birth to twins. Due to not being able to care for two cubs, the mom must choose which one she will support and which one will die. The mother holds the cub in her palm, cradling it close to her chest, and holds the cub, in this manner, for up to ten days. While tending to the needs of her for those first ten days, she does not eat or drink anything. Cubs mature slower than most other animals. Their eyes open at about 55 days old, at ten weeks they begin to crawl, and at about 14 weeks the teeth begin popping through their gums. By 21 weeks of age the baby can walk. When the baby reaches eight months of age, it starts to chew on bamboo. As the cub continues to grow, it does not rely nearly as much on its mother. At 18 months old, the cub stops nursing so that the mother can prepare herself for her next pregnancy. Matriarch pandas are fertile up to about 20 years old, but with harsh conditions, and low fertility rates, the ordinary female panda is only able to give birth between five and eight times in her life.

On average, a panda consumes about 38 pounds of bamboo shoot and leaves per day. Bamboo is the panda’s primary food source. Times when quantities of bamboo are low happen to be the periods when pandas have to seek for other foods in order to survive. A panda will turn to small rodents, bugs, and occasionally a deer fawn to eat when they have to turn to other food sources to satisfy their hunger. Mineral-rich, fresh, running water is the foremost need that a panda requires. Researchers have proven that a panda cannot live without this special water.

Since the day of the panda’s discovery, it has become a celebrity under the spotlight of zoos and other sanctuary-like animal havens. Following their discovery, pandas were at the top of the popularity charts. The panda, according to zoologists, is the most famous of zoo animals. While the panda’s favorability among the people spiked, the large animal foundations also began to realize the importance of the well-liked creature. Soon after it’s founding, the giant panda was named Emblem of the World Wildlife Fund. Members of this organization sought to open people’s eyes and, hopefully, show them that all animals are important. So they chose to make the cute and cuddly panda their international symbol, encouraging people to support the foundation. When the Conservations Union’s (IUCN’s) Red List of Threatened Animals came out, the panda was listed as an endangered species. Since then, global associations have become well focused on solving the problem.

Once, the giant panda (Ailuropoda Melanoleuca) thrived in the high altitudes of China. However, with the growing population, expanding industry, and the bamboo dwindling, the pandas are no longer able to live in their natural habitat. Contributing to the loss of their homes, poachers have killed off innumerable pandas for their hides, and continue to do this as the fur prices rise. Today, only about 1,000 pandas are left in the wild, in reserves, that the Chinese Government has established to protect them. As worldwide organizations, the Chinese Government, and individuals fight to save the panda, they are also struggling with natural issues they have encountered.

An additional problem, called the Bamboo Growth Cycle occurs every 15 to 20 yeas. Bamboo plants pollinate and seed, then die. These bamboo seeds can take several years to mature into plants and become a food source for pandas. When this cycle takes place, so does the death of multiple giant pandas due to starvation. If they don’t starve, giant pandas are forced to move out of their homes in search of other food. While they are on the move, so are the poachers, hoping to catch up to the pandas as they become more vulnerable. Scientists and other researchers are looking for ways to help the pandas during the Growth Cycle.

The giant panda has become one of the most honored animals in the world and loved for it’s playful attitude and unique colors. For a long time, very little was known about the pandas in the wild but as technology becomes more advanced, researcher are learning more about their natural environment. Maybe, this will help the conservationists better understand what pandas need in order to continue their survival. Much remains to be learned about the secret lives of these animals, and every new discovery helps in the battle to save this species.