* Panda, Global name ( Ailuropoda Melanoleuca ) is one of the most gentle and beautiful animals, also known as giant panda, is one of the most rare animals, originating from the forests (Sishen ) in China, lives and breeds in the mountainous areas there, where its main food is available in abundance, which is trees (bamboo); in addition to the types of reeds available in those areas, in this topic learn about the panda bear .
Classification and evolution of the giant panda bear
- The giant panda is a species of bear plant in the mountains of Central and western China, and is one of the most notorious and fluently recognizable creatures in the world, and is also one of the rarest animals as it is under enormous threat in its natural environment due to habitat loss.
- The giant panda is unique among Bears because it does not go into hibernation, its newborn is very small at birth and lives on an almost entirely vegetarian diet.
- Since the French naturalist first discovered the giant panda in 1869, it has become a global symbol of conservation using the World Wildlife Fund as its emblem
- The Chinese also see the giant panda as a symbol of peace, many efforts have been made to try to protect its remaining population in its native habitat.
The look and feel of a giant panda bear
- The giant panda is a medium to large sized bear, like other species it has a large head, a short tail, a long muzzle and a large nose which gives it an excellent sense of smell.
- The thick fur of the giant panda is cream-white with large black spots on the limbs, shoulders, ears and nose, and characteristic black spots around its small eyes.
- The giant panda eats only bamboo, and therefore has a number of physical adaptations to help during food, including stretching the wrist bone that acts almost like a thumb, allowing the giant panda to cling to the bamboo stems, and also has a large jaw with strong muscles which, along with its flat molars, allows it to crush the stems and leaves of the bamboo to extract nutrients.
Habitat of the giant panda bear
- Historically, giant pandas could have been plant throughout the lowlands of the Yangtze River Basin, but increased mortal exertion in these areas has urged giant pandas to move higher up the mountains, and some of them are still found in six different mountain ranges in central and western China, living in Broadleaf and coniferous forests with thick bamboo at altitudes between 5,000 and 13,000 feet.
- These upland forests are cold, cloudy, humid and generally exposed to a high level of rainfall, and it is believed that the unique color of the giant panda may help it to integrate into these misty forests when looking for food, however the loss of these habitats due to deforestation is the biggest threat to the giant panda today being almost solely dependent on bamboo for survival.
Behavior and lifestyle of a panda bear
- The giant panda is a solitary animal that occupies an area characterized by the secretion of odor glands and scratch marks on trees, and the size of the male giant panda is more than twice the size of the female, with its area overlapping with many of the giant panda females that have reproductive rights to it.
- Since bamboo is not a particularly nutritious food, the giant panda must eat a lot of bamboo every day, and can consume up to 30 kg of bamboo leaves, shoots and stems which account for about 40% of its body weight, so the giant panda devotes between 12 and 15 hours a day to chewing bamboo while sitting, allowing its front feet to hold the plants.
- Although the giant panda seems to spend its entire day either eating or sleeping, it is also known for its ability to climb trees, and can swim well when needed.
Reproduction and life cycle of the giant panda bear
* The giant panda breeds between March and May, when the female begins to signal her desire to mate through a series of sounds to attract the male, and after a gestation period of about five months, the female giant panda gives birth to one or two young at the base of a tree or a hollow cave. The baby panda bear is very weak at birth and has a length of 15 cm and a weight of only 100 g.it becomes even more vulnerable due to the fact that it is born blind and hairless, and does not begin to crawl until it is about three months old, even if the female gives birth to twins, she can only care for one small that she puts on her back until he is 6 months old, after which she is able to trot unsteadily next to her. The baby panda bear is weaned when he is about a year old, but does not leave his mother until he is 18 months old, and some of the young may stay with the mother for a few years until they get pregnant again and leave to create their own territory.
Diet of the Giant Panda Bear and prey
- Despite being classified as a carnivorous animal, the giant panda eats bamboo almost exclusively in the forest around it.
- It is known that it consumes more than 30 different species of bamboo, and also feeds on different parts of the plants at different times of the year in order to make the most of them.
- The giant panda can eat up to 30 kg of bamboo per day, and uses its powerful jaw to crush various plant parts into an easily digestible paste, the giant panda spends more than half of its day eating, supplementing its diet with other plants including herbs and fruits, as well as rodents and sometimes birds.
- Although he can eat almost half his body weight of bamboo in just one day, the Giant Panda still needs to drink water and does so from mountain streams that are provided by melting ice and snow up the slopes.
Interesting facts and features of the giant panda bear
- People have always admired the Giant Panda a lot, and therefore it has a number of different names with its scientific name meaning “black and white cat's foot” and its Chinese name literally translates to “giant bear cat”/ "Giant Bear Cat“as the Giant Panda has a pupil in its eye similar to that of a cat.
- It is also known as Bamboo Bear by the locals due to the enormous amount it consumes from the bamboo plant .
- The size of a Small Giant Panda is so small at birth that it weighs almost the same as a normal mouse 100 grams, which is about 0.001% of the mother's weight.
- In the Qinling mountains of Shaanxi province of China, a few brown and white giant pandas can be found.
- The giant panda communicates with other individuals from it using a series of sounds, approximately the Giant Panda has 11 different sounds.
Frequently asked questions about giant panda bear:
-Is the Giant Panda a herbivore, a carnivore, or both?
Both together
-What kingdom does the giant panda bear belong to?
Belongs to the animal kingdom
-To which class does the giant panda bear belong?
Belongs to the class of mammals
-What division does the giant panda bear belong to?
Belongs to the division of chordates
-What family does the giant panda bear belong to?
He belongs to the family Ursidae
-To which order does the giant panda bear belong?
Belongs to the order of carnivores
-What kind of cover does a giant panda bear have?
Giant panda bear covered in fur
-To what genus does the giant panda bear belong?
Belongs to the Genus Ailuropoda
-Where does the giant panda bear live?
Lives in the mountains of central China
-In what kind of citizen does a giant panda bear live?
Lives in moist bamboo forests at high altitudes
-How many babies do a female Giant Panda Bear have?
The average number of births is 1
Panda bear behavior
*The panda is a solitary animal, which makes it special, the
glands that enable it to pick up any smell on the trees, the males have a size
that doubles the size of the females, and the giant panda can afford to spend
an entire day either eating or sleeping and resting.
Mating with a panda bear
*The female panda gives birth to her young between March and May, and the mating season begins when the female begins to refer to her partner through a series of temptations in order to attract the male, and after the stage of pregnancy of the female, which lasts up to five months, the female panda usually gives birth to one or two young cubs.