Giant Panda Profile

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Introduction
    
    The Giant Panda is a universally known and loved animal that has become the modern iconic symbol of China; even surpassing China’s more traditional symbol of the dragon. Traditionally panda’s are characterized as being honest, tolerant, and gentle creatures and are also seen as indicators of peace and prosperity. In more recent years pandas have been used by the Chinese government as a way to improve political ties and bring cultural understanding to various parts of the world.

 

Scientific Name
    
    Ailuropoda melanoleuca

Physical Description
    
    Giant Pandas are most famous for their white coats with black fur around their eyes, ears, muzzle, legs and shoulders. An adult male stands between two and three feet tall at the shoulder, and ranges between four and six feet long. Males tend to be about 10%-20% larger than females. Male pandas can weigh up to 250 pounds, while female pandas rarely make it to 220 pounds. A unique feature to the Giant Panda is that it has broad, flat molars which are well adapted to crushing and grinding fibrous plant material. Giant Pandas also have a modified wrist bone that functions similar to an opposable thumb. This adaptation allows Giant Pandas to better grab and hold on to bamboo. It is unknown how long Giant Pandas live in the wild, but on average a Giant Panda will live between 25 and 30 years when in captivity.

Reproduction
    
    Giant Pandas reach sexual maturity between 4 and 8 years old and can remain fertile till their twenties. Female Giant Pandas go into heat once a year for two or three days at a time; usually between the months of March and May. After impregnation the male panda will leave the female and have no further contact during the reproduction cycle. The gestation period is between 95 to 160 days and a female will give birth to only one or two cubs. When born each cub weights only 3.2 to 4.6 ounces, which is about 1/900th of the mother’s weight. Because they are so small and defenseless a mother will only keep one of the cubs and the other will die soon after birth. A cub will stay with the mother between 18 months and 3 years.

     A major concern with many conservation efforts is that many Giant Pandas lose interest in mating once they are held in captivity. Until recent years, naturally breeding Giant Pandas in zoos and conservations have been mostly unsuccessful, and have only made progress through artificial insemination. The problems in mating pandas have brought on a slew of extreme methods to promote mating between pandas, including showing videos of pandas mating, and the use of Viagra for males.

Habitat
    
     Giant Pandas are predominantly in the mountainous regions of the Sichuan Tibetan plateau, at elevations ranging from 5,000 feet to 10,000 feet. They usually stay in forests that have a rich understory of bamboo.

Diet

     The diet of wild Giant Pandas consists almost exclusively of bamboo, but they have been known to eat a wide range of grasses and occasionally small rodents and mush deer fawns. However, Pandas in captivity usually have a diet that includes sugar cane, rice gruel, carrots, apples and sweet potatoes to help round out their diet. Even though the Giant Panda eats mostly bamboo and other plant material, it is still classified as a carnivore, because it still retains the digestive tract of a carnivore. Due to their digestive tract, Giant Pandas are only able to digest very little nutrients from the bamboo they eat and therefore have to eat massive amounts of bamboo a day to obtain the caloric intake that they need. The average Giant Panda eats anywhere between 20 to 30 pounds of bamboo a day to meets its energy requirements.

Behavior

    Giant Pandas are territorial animals that spend most of their time alone scavenging for food. Pandas do communicate through vocalizations, clawing on trees and spraying urine. Unlike many other species of bear, Giant Pandas do not hibernate and have no permanent den. Instead they will change elevations depending on their surrounding temperature.

Conservation Efforts
 
    The Giant Panda is labeled as an endangered species that is threatened by habitat loss and low birth rates. In 1963 the People’s Republic of China established the Wolong National Nature Reserve to help endangered species. This reserve is the most famous for research and conservation efforts for the Giant Panda. By 2006, the Chinese established over 50 reservations that protect more than 4,000 square miles of the remaining Giant Panda habitat.

Pandas and Politics

    People around the world know about Giant Pandas and they are commonly thought of as cute cuddly animals. But these cute bears have been used by the Chinese in politics for centuries to bring countries closer together. Because of their political uses, over the years Giant Pandas have become a symbol for peace and friendship. Giant Pandas have a long history of peacekeeping and will hopefully continue to do so in the future.