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| Giant Panda |
Giant Panda | Facts About The Bear That Lives On Bamboo Tree
We all have heard about the giant panda which is considered to be one of the cutest species on this earth. Giant sized pandas are a type of big bears with black and white spots on their body. Whether it is a child or a big panda, everyone admires it. Apart from this, giant pandas are found in bamboo forests and sleep about 12 hours a day. Due to living in bamboo forests, they are also known as bamboo pandas.
Due to the loss of habitat of these animals and their illegal hunting, this species has been considered endangered in the conservation status. Do you know that pandas mostly do not take care of their offspring? Get ready to know some more facts about pandas. We will discuss what type of habitat these pandas like to live in and whether they are really dangerous or not.
Where Are Giant Panda Found
This bear can be seen in the temperate regions or forests of southwest China and lives almost entirely on bamboo trees. Giant pandas are mostly found alone because they are solitary animals. Apart from this, most of the time pandas live in their territory in the forests of southwest China. The gestation period of a female panda lasts for about 60-200 days and after pregnancy, both the male and female do not live together.
In these animals, the mother raises the baby alone and the panda babies leave their mother after reaching the age of 1-1.5 years. Mostly pandas can be seen doing calm and alone but if you invade their space and threaten them then it can display some kind of dangerous behavior.
There is some danger to humans from wild animals and the same is the case with giant pandas but the dangerous behavior of giant pandas is not very fatal. These animals have a black and white mark on their body which serves two functions, one is camouflage and the other is communication. The panda's face, neck, belly, and buttocks are white in colour, and the white colour of these body parts helps them camouflage well in snow-covered habitats.
Scientific Name Of Giant Panda
The scientific name of the panda is Ailuropoda melanoleuca and the giant panda is also known as panda bear or panda. Apart from this, it is a species of bear found in south central China. Giant pandas can be found in thousands of years old Chinese art. The Chinese people call giant pandas big bear-cats.
Giant pandas have also fascinated people living outside China and French missionary Pere Armand David first described them for science in 1869. For many years scientists have been studying whether the panda is a type of bear, raccoon or something else. Apart from this, by studying the genetic DNA in the cells of the panda, scientists have confirmed the relationship of pandas with bears.
Giant pandas are similar to other bears in their appearance, way of walking and climbing, features of their skull, their social system and reproductive biology. The giant panda is known for its black and white coat and thick body. This panda belongs to the mammal class of animals and the giant panda is famous for its cuteness. The unique color and round body of the giant panda makes them extremely cute and adorable.
Habitat Of Giant Panda
These bears are fond of bamboo and can always be seen living near bamboo trees. But when it comes to building a home for them, pandas need more than bamboo. Scientists have found in the study that the habitat for the giant panda is in old coniferous forests that are rich in water and various types of bamboo. This type of habitat is important for the giant panda. Because it is easy to get wood and tree stumps in such a place. Then these logs and tree stumps can be used as a part of the panda's house.
How Does A Giant Panda Look Like
The giant panda is a bear with a black and white marking on its body. Apart from this, the features of the panda are similar to bears but these white and black markings differentiate them from ordinary bears. The giant panda has black hair on its eye patches, ears, legs, muzzle and shoulders and the rest of the body is white in color. The giant panda has a thick woolly body which keeps them warm in cold forests.
The teeth of the giant panda have large molars and strong jaws which makes it easy for the giant panda to crush bamboo. The giant panda has a variety of adaptations that allow the giant panda to live in its habitat such as thick fur to stay warm, jaws and large teeth to crush bamboo and long wrists to hold bamboo. Read- Swiftlet Bird | These Small Birds Make Edible Nests
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Giant Panda Length And Weight
The giant panda is a giant sized bear. Their size can be between 3.9-6.2 feet and height can be between 1.9-3 feet. Giant pandas are about 5 times bigger than red pandas. The weight of a giant panda is around 90 kg and the weight of giant pandas depends on the type of their diet.
What Do Giant Panda Eat
The diet of giant pandas consists mostly of vegetarian diets such as leaves, stems and bamboo shoots. Apart from eating bamboo, giant pandas can also eat small animals to fulfill their food requirements. Giant panda bears in zoos eat meat and other food products according to the preferences of particular animals.
How Do Giant Panda Reproduce
It has been observed in animals that male pandas are more interested in the scent of a female. It has been found that the female was in estrus at the time of releasing the scent. Once it identifies this change in the condition of the female panda, the male stays close to this female. The male panda assesses the condition of the female more often and keeps a close eye on her so that he can be ready when the female is ready to mate.
This is important because there is only a period of 2 to 3 days when the female is ready to mate. When the female is not ready to mate, the male moves on in search of another willing female. Pandas have a slow reproductive rate and females breed only once every 2 or 3 years. In their native habitat a female can have about 5 babies in her lifetime.
Pandas are only the size of a stick at birth and the babies are hairless and helpless. The mother takes great care of her little ones, holding them in one paw and hugging them to her chest. After the birth of the babies, the mother does not come out of the burrow for several days, not even to eat or drink. The eyes of the babies open in about 50 to 60 days and by 10 weeks the baby starts crawling.
When the baby is 14 weeks old, its teeth start coming out and the mother and baby spend very little time using their burrow. By 21 weeks the baby is able to walk quite well. At this time the baby starts playing with its mother and at the age of 7 to 9 months it starts trying to eat bamboo.
The baby continues to drink milk until about 18 months of age and at this time the mother is ready to send the babies away so she can prepare for her next litter. Once a young panda weighs about 50 kg and is about 2.5 years old it is safe from predators.
How Long Do Giant Panda Live
The life span of giant pandas in the wild is about 15-20 years and about 35-40 years in the zoo.
How Fast Can Giant Panda Run
Giant pandas are heavy weight animals but their weight never becomes a hindrance to running fast. Giant pandas can run at a speed of about 32 kilometers per hour and this speed is quite impressive compared to their body weight.
How Do Giant Panda Communicate
Giant pandas are mostly silent and solitary animals but they can use different types of sounds to communicate such as screaming, growling, barking and howling etc.
How Many Giant Panda Are There In The World
In the year 2019, there were 1894 giant pandas left in the world and the conservation status of giant pandas is endangered but not extinct. The endangered species status of giant pandas is due to the loss of their habitat and illegal hunting for body parts. Read- 26 Of The Most Colorful Birds On The Planet With Picture
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Giant Panda Behavior
Giant pandas are very cute and adorable animals but they can be a little dangerous too. Giant pandas can bite very hard and their bite can cause severe pain. Apart from this, no other dangerous behavior is seen in giant pandas. They do not make good pets because the first reason is that it is an endangered species and it is not possible to keep them as pets.
Giant Panda Facts For Kids
1. What are 5 facts about giant pandas?
1. Giant pandas have excellent camouflage for their habitat.
2. Giant panda eyes are different from those of normal bears.
3. Giant panda cubs are well protected in their first month.
4. Giant pandas can swim and climb trees.
5. Giant pandas spend most of their day eating and bamboo is important to their diet.
2. What are giant pandas for kids?
Giant pandas, often simply called pandas, are black and white bears. In the wild, giant pandas are found in dense bamboo forests and high in the mountains of central China.
3. What does a giant panda eat?
The daily diet of the giant panda consists almost entirely of the leaves, stems, and shoots of various species of bamboo. Bamboo has very little nutritional value so giant pandas have to eat 12-38 kilograms of it every day to meet their energy needs. But giant pandas eat a wide variety of foods. About 1% of the giant panda's diet consists of other plants and even meat.
4. Why are pandas special?
Giant pandas are one of the most beloved animals on earth. Moreover, the giant panda's playful fur patterns, big black eyes and charismatic behavior make them impossible to dislike.
5. Where do giant pandas live?
Giant pandas live in temperate forests located in the mountains of southwest China and it feeds almost entirely on bamboo. Giant pandas must eat about 26 to 84 pounds of bamboo each day, depending on which part of the bamboo the giant panda is eating.
6. Where do pandas sleep?
Giant pandas sleep and raise their babies under trees, stumps, or rocks. Unlike many bears, giant pandas do not hibernate. Giant pandas simply migrate to warmer areas during cold weather.
7. What is a giant panda?
The giant panda is an attractive black and white bear living in the bamboo forests of central China. The giant panda's coloring, with a heavy body and round face gives it an attractive appearance that has made it popular among people around the world.
8. Why is the panda endangered?
There are many reasons for the extinction of the giant panda including difficulty in breeding, poor bamboo diet, loss of habitat, and predators. Giant pandas face many threats but panda reserves are making every effort to save them from extinction.
9. Is the giant panda still alive?
The giant panda population has increased again to 1,864 as of 2015 and since 2016, the giant panda has been listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
10. Why are giant pandas special?
Giant pandas play an important role in the forest ecosystem where they live. Seeds and plants accumulate on the giant panda’s fur which gets deposited when the pandas move around in their habitat. Giant pandas climb trees and also swim which helps to spread the seeds.