Panda bears
By Rani Iyer
About 2,000 years ago, the geographers in China described a bear for the first time. Peculiar with its black and white coat, they were revered as peaceful animals as they fed exclusively on plants. To the Chinese, Pandas are symbols of peace and friendship. To the rest of the world, they are adorable bears.
Today, there are less than one thousand adults alive in their natural habitat. Pandas feed exclusively on bamboos and lead a solitary existence. Although 300 species of Bamboo are available in China, Pandas eat only about 10-12 species of them. In their natural habitat, their main predators are snow leopards, and starvation when bamboo flowers are also common occurrence.
On an average Panda spends about 14 hours a day looking for food.
Adult Pandas can eat about 25 kg of bamboo per day. Occasionally, Pandas eat grass, bark, stem, leaf, vine, tree fungus and some wild roots. Sometimes they also catch or scavenge upon bamboo rats. Giant Pandas don't hibernate in the winter. They continue to eat Bamboo and thrive in the area.
An average Panda weighs about 200 kg, with male Pandas weighing more than the females. Captive Pandas are known to live for about 25 years, but there is no information on the longevity of Pandas in the wild.
The closest relative to giant Panda is the Red Panda or lesser Panda, which occurs in India, Nepal, and China. The Red Panda is small, lives mostly on trees and eats roots, fruits, nuts and insects for food. Many scientists classify Pandas as racoons rather than bears.
Earliest Pandas were found in the ice age, about 1 to 3 million years ago. Fossils of Pandas have been found in Burma, Vietnam, and China. Today giant Pandas are threatened by destruction of their natural habitat, poaching for their skin and meat, and demand for them in zoos and theme parks. The species will soon be extinct if they are not allowed to live and breed in the wild without outside interventions. In saving the forests from destruction, we could save a species from verge of extinction. For the Panda, there is no other way.
Last updated on :12/27/2003
User's Comments
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But can Pandas live on bamboo of the kinds that exist outside China? Perhaps they could be introduced somewhere else.
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