Giant Pandas

Habitat:
The Giant Panda was once widespread throughout southern and eastern
China, as well as northern Vietnam and neighbouring Myanmar. However,
because of the expanding population and development in Asia, the species
is now restricted to around 20 isolated patches of bamboo forest.
In the wild, giant pandas are only found in the six mountain ranges of
central China, in the Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. Most of the
remaining pandas today live in the Minshan and Qinling mountains.
In the remote, mountainous regions there are cool, wet bamboo forests that
are perfect for the giant pandas needs. Giant pandas make their dens from
hollowed out logs or stumps of conifer trees found within the forest.
The Minshan Mountains:
These mountains form a natural barrier between the densely populated
southern and eastern provinces of China and the wilderness of the Tibetan
Plateau. They spread through the provinces of Sichuan and Gansu, and run
along the north of the Great Sichuan plain, and to the east of the Tibetan
Plateau.
There are around 720 giant pandas in these mountains, which is 45% of the
total wild population. PingWu county has the highest density of wild
pandas in the world.
The Qinling Mountains:
These mountains are part of Chinas most critical watershed, channeling
rainwater into both the Yangtze river and the Yellow river. They are located
in the Shaanxi province, forming a barrier between northern and southern
China. They are home to the Qinling Pandas, a subspecies of the giant
panda. There are estimated 200-300 pandas living in the Qinling
Mountains.

Diet:
Contrary to popular belief, the Giant Panda does eat things other than
bamboo. Giant pandas in the wild will occasionally eat other grasses, wild
tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents or carrion. I n captivity,
they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas
along with specially prepared food.
Pandas stomachs were not designed to digest bamboo, but they have
adapted in other ways to live off the leaves. The giant panda still has the
digestive system of a carnivore, as well as carnivore-specific genes, which
causes it to derive little energy and little protein from consumption of
bamboo.
The Giant Pandas diet is 99% bamboo. Bamboo is eaten 12 hours a day.
The average Giant Panda eats as much as 9-14kg of bamboo shoots a day to
compensate for its low level of energy digestibility. They eat so much
bamboo is because its low in nutrients, and they need to eat more to meet
their energy needs. Its ability to digest cellulose is ascribed to the microbes
in its gut. Pandas are born with sterile intestines, and require bacteria
obtained from their mother's feces to digest vegetation. The limited energy
input imposed on it by its diet has affected the panda's behavior. They have
unique adaptations, and have lived in bamboo forests for millions of years.
Giant pandas tend to limit their social interactions and avoid steeply
sloping terrain to limit their energy expenditures.
The panda's skull is denser than other members of the order Carnivora, like
bears. This allows it to better support the muscles surrounding the
jawbone, resulting in a more powerful bite. Their large, flat teeth are
covered by ridges to better pulverize their food. Combined, their
super-strong skull and teeth designed for efficient crushing allows them to
mechanically, rather than chemically, break down their food, increasing the
availability of the nutrients locked within those plant cells.

Status:
In the wild, there are roughly 1864 pandas. However, wild population
estimates do vary; one estimate shows that there are about 1864 individuals
living in the wild, which is a 17% increase since 2004, while a 2006 study
via DNA analysis estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000.
Pandas are very elusive creatures, so it is hard to conduct a very accurate
survey, but the Chinese government do a once a decade National Survey
census. As of 2007 there were 239 pandas living in captivity in China, and
as of of December 2014, 49 giant pandas living in captivity outside China, in
18 zoos in 13 different countries. Some reports also show that the number
of giant pandas in the wild is on the rise.
The biggest threat to Giant Pandas is humans. Humans cause the
destruction of their habitats, by building roads and cities. Another threat to
Giant Pandas is poaching, although China has strict laws in place regarding
poaching since 1988. China also banned trading panda skins in 1981, and
the 1988 Wildlife Protection Law banned poaching of the animal.
Giant Pandas also have a low reproduction rate, giving birth to one cub
sometimes every 2 or 3 years from 4 to 18 years old. Even if a female has
two cubs, she would normally choose to take care of one and abandon the
other.
Today, there are around 67 reserves in China that protect 67% of the
population and nearly 1.4 million hectares of habitat.
The Giant Pandas status has been downgraded from endangered to
vulnerable as of 2016.

Description:
The Qinling Giant Panda is a subspecies of the Giant Panda, and are found
only in the Qinling Mountains. They are different because of their brown
instead of black patches, they have larger molars, and a smaller skull.
Adults measure around 1.2 to 1.9 m (4 to 6 ft) long, including a tail of about
1015 cm, and 60 to 90 cm (2.0 to 3.0 ft) tall at the shoulder.
Males can weigh up to 160 kg, while females (generally 1020% smaller
than males) can weigh as little as 70 kg, but can also weigh up to 125 kg.
Average adult weight is 100 to 115 kg.
The Giant Panda typically lives around 20 years in the wild, and up to 30 in
captivity. A female named Jia Jia was the oldest Giant Panda ever in
captivity, and died at age 38 on October 16th 2016. She lived in Ocean Park
in Hong Kong. At the time of her death, she had been suffering from high
blood pressure, arthritis and cataracts.
Giant pandas are generally solitary, and each adult has a defined territory,
and a female is not tolerant of other females in her range. Social encounters
occur primarily during the brief breeding season in which pandas in
proximity to one another will gather. After mating, the male leaves the
female alone to raise the cub.
Pandas communicate through vocalization and scent marking such as
clawing trees or spraying urine.
They are able to climb and take shelter in hollow trees or rock crevices, but
they dont establish permanent dens. For this reason, pandas dont
hibernate, which is similar to other subtropical mammals, and will instead
move to elevations with warmer temperatures. Pandas rely primarily on
spatial memory rather than visual memory.

Facts:
The scientific name for the Giant Panda is Ailuropoda melanoleuca.
Giant pandas have a special bone that extends from their wrists called
a pseudo-thumb. They use the pseudo-thumb to hold and
manipulate bamboo. This extra digit on the panda's hand helps them
to tear the bamboo.
Giant pandas will climb 13,000 feet (3,962 m) up the mountains of
their home area to feed on higher slopes in the summer.
The giant panda does not hibernate but it will shelter in caves or
hollow trees in very cold weather, and heads further down the
mountains to warmer temperatures during winter months.
The giant panda is a solitary animal, which spends about two-thirds
of its day feeding and the remainder resting.
There are about 20 different species of bamboo that pandas will eat.
Their gut is covered with a thick layer of mucus to protect against
splinters from bamboo.
Pandas have a highly developed sense of smell that males use to avoid
each other and to find females for mating in the spring.
Baby pandas are born pink and measure about 15cm. They are also
born blind and only open their eyes six to eight weeks after birth.

Predators:
Because of their large size and unique habitat, Giant Pandas have few
natural predators. Panda cubs are basically helpless until they are one year
old, at which time large birds of prey sometimes hunt them.
However, some predators include jackals, leopards, and yellow-throated
marten, which prey on Giant Panda cubs.
Snow leopards are also a threat to Giant Pandas, since they inhabit the
same regions.
Pandas will naturally avoid aggression, but they are highly capable of
defending themselves against predators and other threats.
One warning sign that a giant panda feels threatened and might get
aggressive is a lowering of the head and staring directly toward the threat.
Pandas are often referred to as harmless, cute animals, but they can be as
vicious and dangerous as most other species of bear.
One aspect of giant panda bears' opposition against predators is their
strength. Pandas typically use their strong teeth to chew through tough
bamboo, which is the majority of their diet, but they can also use their large
molars and strong jaw bones to defend themselves, leaving a horrible bite
wound.
Pandas are also excellent climbers and can climb trees from the age of 6
months, which allows them to escape many of their predators.