The Giant Panda is a very well known animal that is cute and sweet looking, but there is a lot about the Giant Panda that many people don’t know about.

   

Panda bears are about the size of an American Black Bear – they stand 2-3 feet to the shoulder standing on 4 legs, and can reach 6 feet in length. One of the reasons that make pandas so beautiful and unique is their coloration. They are black and white, their ears, muzzle, legs, shoulders, and eyes are black, and the rest of their body is white. Giant Pandas have many identifying characteristics, like their large molar teeth, used to crush bamboo, their thick fur to keep them warm, and their small, 4 to 6 inch stubby tail.

  

Although pandas have a regular carnivore digestive system, they have adapted to omnivores. The niche of the Giant Panda is that they control and maintain bamboo forests from overgrowing. Bamboo

  

Forests in Central and Western China is the homeland to a panda. Pandas do not like living near civilization though, so they live from 5,000 to 10,000 feet in elevation.

   

Giant Pandas are seriously endangered animals. An estimated amount of 1,600 pandas are left in the wild, while about 160 pandas are kept in zoos and breeding centers. It’s not helping that the Chinese population is growing, making their habitat shrink, which is a major cause of their endangerment. Other reasons the Giant Pandas are dieing out is because bamboo forests are being cut down for farming, and their fur is very popular and many are hunted for it.

   

Many people think that pandas only eat bamboo, but they are actually omnivores. Although their favorite food is bamboo, they can actually eat a variety of foods, such as sugar canes, rice gruel, carrots, apples, sweet potatoes, and small rodents or other tiny animals. Over all though, almost 99% of the Giant Panda’s diet is bamboo. You would think they have plenty because nobody else eats bamboo, but actually a lot of monkeys main food is bamboo too, so that leaves the pandas with a little bit of competition.

   

Like every other living organism out there, the Giant Panda is the prey of some predator. Leopards and other wild dogs such as wolves and coyotes, steal the baby pandas for them to eat. Unfortunately, the only protection the pandas have against their predators is their own sharp claws. The Giant Panda can put up a big fight.

  

I learned some pretty neat things about the Giant Panda. For example, they are quite playful, and actually very flexible, they can do somersaults, and role around and have fun with each other. Pandas do not hibernate, and they also can’t roar, but they can growl like a house cat. Many baby pandas do not survive when they are born, so the average mother panda only produces about 5-8 baby pandas that make it to adulthood in her lifetime. Over all, the Giant Panda is a unique, cute animal, that is characteristics that make itself the animal it is.

 

Author: Beaujena D

Published: 05/2009

  

Sources:

 "Threats of Giant Panda." CRIENGLISH. 06 Feb. 2009 http://english.cri.cn/725/2006/01/06/202@41618.htm. "WWF - About the panda." WWF - Local to Global Environmental Conservation We're in the business of saving our one and only planet. 06 Feb. 2009

 

http://www.panda.org/about_wwf/what_we_do/species/about_species/ species_factsheets/giant_panda/panda/#pandadiet "Bear Facts - Species - Giant Panda.

 

" Kidzone - Fun Facts for Kids! 05 Feb. 2009 http://kidzone.ws/lw/bears/facts-giantpanda.htm Burnie, David. Smithsonian Institution Animal : The Definitive Visual Guide to the World's Wildlife. Ed. Don E. Wilson. Grand Rapids: Dorling Kindersley, Incorporated, 2001. "Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)." TheBIGzoo.com - Virtual Zoo, Zoo Store, Zoo News. 05 Feb. 2009

 

http://thebigzoo.com/Animals/Giant_Panda.asp Holland, David, ed. Encyclopedia Americana. International ed. Vol. 21. Danbury: Grolier, Limited, 1988. "Panda Kids - Fun Facts." Panda Express: Chinese Food, Wok-Cooked and Served Fast. 05 Feb. 2009 http://pandaexpress.com/pandakids/html/fun_facts/fact05.html