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Giant panda

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From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Panda" redirects here. For other uses, seePanda (disambiguation).
Giant panda
A giant panda at theSmithsonian National Zoological Park inWashington, D.C.
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
Order:
Family:
Genus:
Ailuropoda
Binomial name
Ailuropoda melanoleuca
(David, 1869)
Giant panda range

Thegiant panda,Gianticus Pandaicus, is abear.[1][2] It lives in south centralChina.[3]

Although it belongs to theorderCarnivora, the panda's diet is almost 99%bamboo.[4] Pandas in the wild occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents orcarrion. In captivity, they may get honey, eggs, fish, yams,shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared food.[5][6]

The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly inSichuan province, but also in theShaanxi andGansu provinces.[7]As a result of farming,deforestation and other development, the panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived.

Appearance

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Giant pandas are bears. They have black and white fur all around them. The black fur is on their ears, around their eyes, on their legs, and on theirshoulders.[8]

Giant pandas are approximately the size of anAmerican black bear, standing at about 3 feet (91 cm) tall at the shoulder when on all four legs. They measure around 7 feet (210 cm) in length. In the wild, males can weigh up to 251 pounds (114 kg), while females typically weigh less, generally staying below 220 pounds (100 kg).[8]

Living areas

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Wild giant pandas have lived in the mountains of centralChina. They live in forests of tall trees. They eat the bamboo that grows under the trees. The weather is rainy and misty in the mountain forests. There are thick clouds almost all the time.[8]

Food and water

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Bamboo is the main diet of pandas. Ninety-nine percent of the food they eat is bamboo. They eat as much as 40 pounds (18 kg) ofbamboo every day. They spend 10 to 16 hours every day looking for food and eating it.[8]

Bamboo is a grass. Sometimes, giant pandas eat othergrasses. They also eat littlerodents ormusk deer babies (fawns).[3] In zoos, giant pandas eat bamboo,sugar cane, vegetables, and fruit.[8]

Giant pandas get a lot of water from the bamboo they eat. They need more water though. They drink from the freshwater streams and rivers in the mountain. Melting snow high in the mountains runs into these streams and rivers.[8]

Kinds of giant pandas

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A Qinling panda.

There are twosubspecies of giant pandas. They both live in China. The best known is the black and white panda. Its scientific name isAiluropoda melanoleuca melanoleuca.

The other giant panda has dark brown and light brown fur. Its skull is smaller than the other giant panda. It has largermolars. This panda lives only in the Qinling Mountains. Though often called the Qinling Panda, Its scientific name isAiluropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis.[9]

Baby pandas

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Giant pandas are ready to have babies (cubs) when they are between the ages of four and eight. They may be able to have babies until about age 20. Female pandas are ready to have a baby only once a year in the springtime. There are only two or three days during which a baby panda can form in the mother's belly. Calls and scents bring the males and female pandas to each other.

Female pandas may give birth to two young. Usually only one lives. Giant panda cubs may stay with their mothers for up to three years. Then, they leave her for a life of their own.

Giant pandas and people

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Today, the giant panda is a symbol forChina.[10][11] It is protected by the Chinese government. Killing a giant panda is acrime.[12] The giant panda may become extinct or die out if the forests of bamboo continue to disappear.[13]

People outside of easternAsia did not know about the giant panda until 1869. The first "Westerner" to see a live panda was aGermanzoologist in 1916. In 1936,Ruth Harkness became the first Westerner to bring a live giant panda out of China. It was a cub (baby panda) named Su-Lin. The cub was taken to live at theBrookfield Zoo inChicago.[14]

In the 1970s, China began showing giant pandas in zoos in theUnited States andJapan as a type ofdiplomacy. This happened until 1984 when China changed how this was done. Starting in 1984, China would allow zoos to keep the giant pandas for 10 years, but the zoo would have to pay China up to$1,000,000 each year. Also, the zoo would have to agree that any cubs born would belong to China.[15]

Zoos

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One of three giant pandas at the Atlanta Zoo
Hua Mei, the baby panda born at theSan Diego Zoo in 1999

13 cities outside China currently have zoos with giant pandas.

North America

In addition, the National Zoo inWashington, D.C.,United States, theSan Diego Zoo inSan Diego, California,United States, theMemphis Zoo inMemphis, Tennessee,United States and the Zoo Atlanta inAtlanta, Georgia,United States once hosted giant pandas, but their pandas have since been returned to China.[16]

Europe
Asia

TheAdelaide Zoo inAdelaide,Australia received two giant pandas in 2009.[26]

Endangered animal

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A panda cub with its mother.

The giant panda is anendangered species. It may becomeextinct. In 2013, it was estimated that there were less than 2,500 mature giant pandas living in the wild. Illegal hunting is no longer a problem. Hunting for pandas is a crime. The penalties are harsh if you hunt pandas.[3]

The greatest threat to survival is the loss of living areas. People are ruining the areas where pandas live. They are cutting down trees. They are building farms. Groups of pandas are forced to live in small areas. They are isolated. They cannot mix other panda groups.[3]

Giant pandas eat bamboo. Sometimes the bamboo dies off. At one time, pandas could move to an area where bamboo was still growing. Moving has become more and more difficult. People are living and working in panda areas. Pandas cannot move about as freely as they once did.[3]

Helping pandas to survive

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China set up the first giant panda nature reserve in 1963. Other nature reserves were also set up. There were 40 giant panda reserves in 2006.

Related pages

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References

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  1. Scheff, Duncan (2002).Giant Pandas. Animals of the rain forest (illustrated ed.). Heinemann-Raintree Library. p. 7.ISBN 0-7398-5529-8.
  2. Lindburg, Donald G.; Baragona, Karen (2004).Giant Pandas: Biology and Conservation. University of California Press.ISBN 0-520-23867-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. 3.03.13.23.33.4"Ailuropoda melanoleuca". iucn. Retrieved2013-10-18.
  4. Quote: "Bamboo forms 99 percent of a panda's diet", "more than 99 percent of their diet is bamboo": p. 63 ofLumpkin & Seidensticker 2007 harvnb error: no target: CITEREFLumpkinSeidensticker2007 (help) (as seen in the 2002 edition).
  5. "Giant Panda". Discovery Communications, LLC. Retrieved8 August 2010.
  6. "Giant Pandas". National Zoological Park. Retrieved7 November 2010.
  7. Scheff, Duncan (2002).Giant Pandas. Animals of the rain forest (illustrated ed.). Heinemann-Raintree Library. p. 8.ISBN 0-7398-5529-8.
  8. 8.08.18.28.38.48.5"Giant Pandas". Smithsonian National Zoological Park. Archived fromthe original on 2013-10-16. Retrieved2013-10-18.
  9. Hammond, Paula (2010).The Atlas of Endangered Animals: Wildlife Under Threat Around the World. Marshall Cavendish. p. 58.ISBN 978-0761478720.
  10. "Giant Panda, symbol of China, shed happiness at the world's zoos". People's daily onlnine, English version. Retrieved3 May 2008.
  11. "Panda message make foreigners more aware of China". Chinaview.cn. Retrieved3 May 2008.
  12. "The Giant Panda". Katherine Kennedy. Archived fromthe original on 7 March 2008. Retrieved3 May 2008.
  13. Earth's Changing Environment. Learn & Explore. Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. 2010. p. 49.ISBN 978-1615353392.
  14. Watson, DA."The Panda Lady: Ruth Harkness (Part 1)". Female explorers. Archived fromthe original on 15 December 2006. Retrieved1 February 2007.
  15. "China's Panda Diplomacy". Time. Archived fromthe original on 1 May 2008. Retrieved2 May 2008.
  16. 16.016.1"On this page you can find information about the giant pandas who live outside of China". GiantPandaZoo. Archived fromthe original on 29 October 2009. Retrieved9 August 2010.
  17. "Zoologischer Garten Berlin". GiantPandaZoo. Archived fromthe original on 30 April 2011. Retrieved9 August 2010.
  18. Oleksyn, Veronika (23 August 2007)."Panda gives surprise birth in Austria".AP viaYahoo! News. Retrieved24 August 2007.[permanent dead link]
  19. "Pandas sent off to Spain". Archived fromthe original on 14 May 2009. Retrieved5 May 2009.
  20. "Patter of tiny paws: Giant panda gives birth at Dutch zoo".ABC News. Associated Press. 2 May 2020. Retrieved1 February 2022.
  21. Casey, Michael (28 May 2009)."China experts say Thailand's panda cub healthy". Associated Press. Archived fromthe original on 14 November 2009. Retrieved9 August 2010.
  22. "Giant panda pair headed for Tokyo zoo". Retrieved2011-05-04.
  23. "Kobe Oji Zoo". GiantPandaZoo. Archived fromthe original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved9 August 2010.
  24. "Panda Zoos List". www.GiantPandaZoo.com. Archived fromthe original on 2011-07-11. Retrieved2011-05-05.
  25. "Panda World". Retrieved17 September 2016.
  26. "Rudd gives panda pledge". ABC. 11 April 2008. Retrieved3 May 2008.

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