The panda is not special
just because it is one of the most well known and charismatic animals. It is
also a very peculiar species, with many unique and very interesting
characteristics.
Habitat: the land of the panda
Pandas live mainly bamboo forests high in the
mountains of western China. Most of the wild population being distributed
between the Qinling and Minshan Mountains.
Panda's natural enemies and defences
Natural enemies and
predators
Adult pandas have very
few natural enemies. The few animals that will prey on pandas are:
jackals,
leopards,
and the yellow-throated marten (a relative of
the weasel that sometimes eats giant panda cubs)
Kung fu panda
The 2008 animated blockbuster Kung Fu Panda tells the
story of Po, a panda who is an apprentice noodle-maker and kung-fu fanatic. In
the plot, his worst enemy is Tai Lung: a fierce kung fu fighting snow leopard.
In real life snow leopards, also a highly endangered
species, pose a definite threat to young pandas. Both animals share similar
geographic areas, especially high mountain ranges in Asia.
Defences: can pandas
fight back?
Giant pandas are solitary and peaceful animals who
will usually avoid confrontation.
But if If escape
is not possible, they will certainly fight back. Giant pandas will display
aggression by lowering their heads and staring directly at the opponent.
As cuddly as they may look, a panda can protect itself as
well as most other bears by using:
Physical strength
They can grow
to be 1.5m long from nose to rump, and weigh about 150kg - that's almost 2x
heavier than most adult humans
Strong jaw muscles and large molar teeth
Although used mainly for crushing bamboo, a panda bite
can be very nasty
Additionally giant pandas can also count on other natural
skills.
Panda cubs start to climb trees when they are only 6
months old, and as adults the pandas make excellent climbers.
They
can also swim and, unlike most other bears,
do not sleep for months at time in hibernation
All these abilities make the giant panda a formidable
opponent for the few natural enemies that dare attack them.
If they defend
themselves, why are pandas so endangered?
The biggest threats
to pandas are not in the wild, but through everyday human actions.
The reason why they are one of the most endangered
species on our planet is because they threatened activities such as:
habitat loss and
fragmentation,
poaching,
illegal trade and more
Basically, humans are the
greatest threat to pandas.
That's the bad news.
The good news is that
humans are also the greatest hope for pandas because we can do something about
it.
No matter where you live,
if we all treat our planet better, we can guarantee a future for the giant
pandas, fishes, forests and even ourselves.
What do pandas eat?
The simple answers
is: bamboo.
A Panda's daily menu
consists almost entirely of the leaves, stems, and shoots of various bamboo
species.
Bamboo contains very
little nutritional value, so pandas must eat 12-38kg every day to meet their
energy needs.
Only about 1% of their
diet is made up of other plants and meat. Occasionally the panda will hunt for
pikas and other small rodents.
As members of the bear
family, giant pandas possess the same digestive system of a carnivore. But they
differ in the sense that they have adapted to a vegetarian diet.
This behaviour defines
their lives in many ways, since they will often rely on living close to areas
where bamboo is abundant. This leaves them vulnerable to any loss of bamboo
habitat – a key threat to their survival.
Social structure and breeding
The
"family" life
Giant pandas are generally solitary, each adult having a well-defined home
range, within which they move about regularly.
Although they are not territorial, females do not
tolerate other females and sub-adults within the core areas of their range.
Encounters are rare outside the brief mating season, but
pandas communicate fairly often, mostly through vocalization and scent marking.
As the animals move about, they mark their routes by
spraying urine, clawing tree trunks, and rubbing against objects.
Breeding
Pandas are
erroneously believed to be poor breeders.
This is an impression
based on the disappointing reproductive performance of captive pandas.
But wild panda
populations involved in long-term studies are known to have reproductive rates
comparable to those of some populations of American black bears, which are
thriving.
Panda breeding
facts:
Giant pandas reach sexual maturity at 5.5 to
6.5 years.
A female can mate with several males, who
compete with each other to mate with her.
A male will seek out different females who
are on heat.
The mating season is in spring between March
and May.
Males
and females usually associate for no more than 2 to 4 days.
Gestation takes about 95 to 160 days and
pandas normally give birth to single young (twins seem to be born more frequently in captivity, when
artificial insemination is used).
The reproductive rate is about 1 young every
2 years
Life cycle
A newborn panda cub weighs only 90-130gr. and is about
the size of a stick of butter.
The panda cub is 1/900th the size of its
mother, one of the smallest newborn mammals relative to its mother's size.
Pandas are dependent on their mothers for the
first few months of their lives and are fully weaned at 8 to 9 months.
Most pandas leave their mothers when she
conceives again, usually at about 18 months.
A panda's average life span in the wild is
14-20 years (but a panda can live up to 30 years in captivity).
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