Giant panda bear, Panda bear, Panda
The Giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is a bear species endemic to China. The name "giant panda" is sometimes used to distinguish it from the Red panda, a neighboring musteloid. The Giant panda has often served as China's national symbol, appeared on Chinese Gold Panda coins since 1982, and as one of the five Fuwa mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
No
NocturnalNocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
Cr
CrepuscularCrepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight (that is, the periods of dawn and dusk). This is distinguished from diurnal...
He
HerbivoreA herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example, foliage, for the main component of its die...
Fo
FolivoreIn zoology, a folivore is a herbivore that specializes in eating leaves. Mature leaves contain a high proportion of hard-to-digest cellulose, less ...
Te
TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Al
AltricialAltricial animals are those species whose newly hatched or born young are relatively immobile. They lack hair or down, are not able to obtain food ...
Br
BrowsingBrowsing is a type of herbivory in which an herbivore (or, more narrowly defined, a folivore) feeds on leaves, soft shoots, or fruits of high-growi...
Zo
ZoochoryZoochory animals are those that can disperse plant seeds in several ways. Seeds can be transported on the outside of vertebrate animals (mostly mam...
Vi
ViviparousAmong animals, viviparity is the development of the embryo inside the body of the parent. The term 'viviparity' and its adjective form 'viviparous'...
Po
PolygynyPolygyny is a mating system in which one male lives and mates with multiple females but each female only mates with a single male.
So
SolitaryNo
Not a migrantAnimals that do not make seasonal movements and stay in their native home ranges all year round are called not migrants or residents.
G
starts withCu
Cute AnimalsBl
Black And White AnimalsThe Giant panda is a bear of medium to large size with a large head, small eyes, long muzzle, large nose, and short tail. It has large jaws with strong muscles, and together with its flat molars, it is able to crush bamboo leaves and stems. Its thick fur is creamy-white with big black patches on its shoulders, ears, and nose, with distinctive black patches around its eyes. An extension of its wrist bone, which serves as a thumb, enables them to grip bamboo stems.
Giant pandas live in several mountain ranges in China, in the central provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu. They inhabit montane forests and mixed forests, where there is a thick understory of bamboo.
Giant pandas are terrestrial animals although they are able to climb and take shelter in hollow trees or rock crevices, but do not establish permanent dens. For this reason, pandas do not hibernate. They are solitary, occupying a territory that they mark with secretions from their scent glands and by scratch marks on trees. They spend 12 to 15 hours a day chewing bamboo while sitting down with their front paws holding onto the plants. Giant pandas are crepuscular, being active twice a day, at dawn and dusk. They eat as much as 9 to 14 kg (20 to 30 lb) of bamboo shoots a day and will travel between different habitats if they need to, so they can get the nutrients that they need and to balance their diet for reproduction. Pandas communicate through vocalization and can swim.
Giant pandas are herbivores (folivores) and in the wild, they eat 99 percent bamboo. They may also eat meat, fish, and eggs when available.
Giant pandas are polygynous, breeding between March and May. The female attracts a male through a series of bleats and groans. Gestation lasts about 5 months, then the female gives birth in a cave or base of a hollow tree to 1 or 2 cubs. Cubs are born blind and toothless, weighing only 90 to 130 grams, or about 1/800th of the mother's weight. Cubs will stay in a den until 6 months of age when they are able to trot alongside their mother. They are weaned at about a year old but stay with their mother for another 6 months. Some cubs may not leave the mother for several years until she falls pregnant again. Giant pandas become reproductively mature between 4 and 8 years old.
Humans are the biggest threat to these animals living in the Chinese mountains because they have hunted them for their fur. They are under extreme threat due to habitat loss from deforestation and land clearance. Furthermore, climate change kills bamboo, 99% of a panda's diet.
The Giant panda is classified as Vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List site and its numbers today are increasing. About 1,800 individuals remain in the wild. Over 300 live in breeding centers and zoos, mostly in China.
The Giant panda is closely connected to the abundance of bamboo and vice versa. They help to distribute bamboo seeds and panda-protected areas have been put in place to help protect native ecosystems.