About the Giant Panda:
The Giant Panda could be found all over China 600,000-700,000 years ago. Now, it is only distributing in the most remote and deep broadleaf and coniferous forests at elevations between 5,000 and 10,000 feet in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Sichuan provinces. These forests have a dense understory of bamboo, characterized by heavy rains or dense mist throughout the year. For years, the panda was a mystery to humans, and it wasn’t until the last thirty years that scientists truly began to understand how the pandas live.
The panda's primary food is bamboo, and, although they may look chubby and clumsy, they are actually very good climbers, which is useful for evading predators.
Reproduction can be difficult for pandas. Mating takes place in the spring, and, after a 3-5 mouth gestation period, the female births one or two tiny, frail baby pandas in a sheltered den. At birth, the babies only weigh about 100 grams on average. The baby is blind until 1-2 months of age, and it is smooth with a red body. The cub becomes mobile around three months, and it is totally independent by twelve months. It is not uncommon for the baby not to survive the first year of life, and pandas do not reach sexual maturation until 4-10 years of age, making it hard for panda populations to resist any kind of outside threats like poaching or habitat loss.
To protect the Giant Panda, China has established a total of 56 nature reserves for the panda in Gansu, Shaanxi and Sichuan. To date, the majority of panda habitat is protected, and by 2030 the government plans to protect up to 95% of Giant Panda habitat.
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What you Can Do:
Giant pandas live in the forest, which means that deforestation for paper, chopsticks, furniture, floor boards etc. all potentially threaten panda habitat. Please do not use products produced from virgin forests. Climate change will also contribute to habitat destruction so please reduce your energy consumption and work to lessen your carbon footprint on the earth. |
