Giant Panda - animal of the Red book

Theme: “Giant Panda - animal of the Red book”

Contents:

• Biological features of the giant panda;
• Habitat of the giant panda;
• The present state of giant pandas;
• Modern problems of resettlement of giant pandas.

Giant Panda

Type: Mammal

Diet: Omnivore

Order:  Carnivora Family:  Ursidae Genus and species: 

Ailuropoda melanoleuca

Average life span in the wild: 20 years

Size: 4 to 5 ft

Weight: 140 kg

Protection status: Endangered

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:

The giant panda, a black-and-white bear, has a body typical of bears. It has black fur on ears, eye patches, muzzle, legs, and shoulders. The rest of the animal's coat is white.

SIZE:

Giant pandas stand between two and three feet tall at the shoulder, and reach four to six feet long. Males are larger than females, weighing up to 250 pounds in the wild. Females

rarely reach 220 pounds.

DIET:

A wild giant panda’s diet is almost exclusively bamboo. The balance consists of other grasses and occasional small rodents or musk deer fawns. In zoos, giant pandas eat sugar cane, rice gruel, a special high-fiber biscuit, apples, and sweet potatoes.

FEEDING ADAPTIONS:

A giant panda’s digestive system is more similar to that of a carnivore than an herbivore, and so much of what is eaten is passed as waste. To make up for the inefficient digestion, a panda needs to consume a comparatively large amount of food—from 20 to 40 pounds of bamboo each day.

REPRODUCTION:

Giant pandas reach breeding maturity between 4 and 8 years of age. They may be reproductive until about age 20.

At birth, panda cubs typically weigh 4-8oz (100–200g) and measure around 6 inces (15cm) long.

HABITAT:

Giant pandas live in broadleaf and coniferous forests with a dense understory of bamboo, at elevations between

5,000 and 10,000 feet.

GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION:

Giant pandas live in a few mountain ranges in central China, in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces.

LIFESTYLE:

A wild panda spends much of its day resting, feeding, and seeking food. Unlike other bears from temperate climates, giant pandas do not hibernate.

OVERVIEW

Despite their exalted status and relative lack of natural predators, pandas are endangered. Severe threats from humans have left fewer than 1,600 pandas in the wild.

STATUS:

The giant panda is listed as endangered in the World Conservation Union's (IUCN's) Red List of Threatened Species. There are about 1,600 left in the wild.

HABITAT LOSS

Forest destruction also reduces pandas’ access to the bamboo they need to survive. The Chinese government has established more than 50 panda reserves, but only around 61% of the country’s panda population is protected by these reserves.

list of references:

• http://www.defenders.org
• http://nationalzoo.si.edu
• http://animals.nationalgeographic.com
• http://en.wikipedia.org

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