The giant panda is one of the Earth's most endangered and well-known species. It has a characteristic white face with black ears and circles around the eye. It has a white body with black arms and legs. Giant pandas average about six feet in length. Males can weigh up to 275 pounds and are 10 to 20 percent larger than females. The head of the giant panda is extremely large and contains powerful molars to crush bamboo stalks. Giant pandas have specially adapted wrist bones which serve somewhat like human thumbs and enable the panda to grasp bamboo. Giant pandas are excellent climbers and swimmers, but unlike many bears they do not hibernate and cannot stand on their hind legs.
Diet
The giant panda has a specialized diet that consists almost entirely of bamboo. They will also feed on insects, mushrooms, fish and fruit. Giant pandas must eat 20-40 pounds of bamboo to survive and spend most of the day searching for food.
Habitat and Range
Giant pandas inhabit the dense bamboo forests of central China. Populations of giant pandas are fragmented into six small forest regions. While biologists once estimated populations at less than 1,000, the most recent counts have revealed there may be as many as 1,600 left in the wild. About 60 zoos throughout the world have giant pandas. China recently loaned the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., a pair of pandas for one million dollars per year.
Behavior
Giant pandas are extremely solitary animals and rarely associate for prolonged periods of time with other pandas - even if they're in the same cage at a zoo. Males will sometimes congregate, however, during the breeding season to compete for females. Pandas communicate territory boundaries by marking trees with urine or feces. Pandas sometimes engage in "handstand marking" in which they stand on their paws and rest their bodies against a tree while marking. This is thought to communicate the size of the panda, as the higher up the scent markings rise, the bigger the panda is.
Breeding
Panda cubs are born blind and naked and weigh less than half a pound after a gestation period of 125-150 days. Two cubs are born but only one survives. Cubs nurse for about six months and leave their mothers after a year.
Status
Giant panda populations have declined dramatically in the 1900's. The destruction of their habitat to make room for farms, grazing animals, and China's booming populations are the main culprits. As a result, the Chinese government has established 33 natural panda reserves where bamboo flourishes. Chinese citizens are generally forbidden from even entering these areas. Giant pandas are occasionally victims of poachers, who sell their furs for high prices in illegal markets. Individuals convicted of killing giant pandas are put in jail for life.
Red Panda
Description
The Beautiful red panda, or bear-cat, is one of the most striking animals in the world. It looks somewhat like a cross between a cat, a bear, and a raccoon. It has reddish-brown fur with a long, striped tail. Its face is mostly white with dark stripes over the eyes like a raccoon. It has a conspicuous black nose. Its arms, legs and belly are darker in color. The red panda normally weighs about 15-20 pounds. While the red panda shares characteristics of raccoons and bears, it is classified as its own species. Much like the larger giant panda, the red panda has a thumb-like appendage which is used to grasp bamboo.
Diet
Like the giant panda, the red panda's diet consists mostly of bamboo. Red pandas spend as much as 13 hours per day searching for food. Unlike the giant panda, however, red pandas only eat the most tender leaves and shoots of the bamboo plant. Red pandas chew each bite thoroughly to help digest the tough plant. It will occasionally feed on insects or eggs.
Habitat and Range
The red panda has a wider range than the giant panda. They are found in the cool, temperate forests of the Himalayan Mountain nations of Nepal, northern Myanmar and southwestern China. They are found at high altitudes (from 4,900-13,000 feet) where there is little fluctuation in temperature.
Behavior
Red pandas are crepuscular (they are active at dusk and dawn). Like the giant panda, the red panda is a solitary animal. Red pandas communicate territorial boundaries by depositing urine and secretions on trees.
Breeding
Female red pandas give birth to two cubs after a gestation period of 135 days. Cubs are fully grown after a period of one year. Red pandas grow slowly for their size which ultimately results in a slow rate of reproduction.
Status
Red panda populations have declined dramatically in the 1900's. The destruction of their cloud-forest habitat to make room for farms and grazing animals has resulted in the loss of foraging and nesting places. Logging and cheese production in Nepal has further precipitated its decline. The introduction of feral dogs and recent demand for the red panda's unusual fur have also contributed. 85 zoos throughout the world currently participate in red panda conservation efforts. Both the Knoxville Zoo and the National Zoo have had success in breeding red pandas in captivity. Over 300 cubs have been born in zoos in the last two decades.
