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The playful panda bear, well known on the internet for its clumsy antics, is a mammal found in China.
In addition to being playful, they stand out for their striking coat with black spots on their eyes and limbs.
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They are called giant pandas. Although they are classified in the order Carnivora, their diet is based on the consumption of bamboo.
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THE FASCINATING WORLD OF SHARKS
Below I have separated information for you about the lifestyle and main characteristics of this fantastic mammal.
Panda bear and its habitat
They live in bamboo forests. They were previously found throughout southern and eastern China.
However, the decline of bamboo forests has limited their space. Now they live where there is forest left.
Panda bear and its characteristics
As they are mammals, they are characterized by the presence of fur and the ability to produce milk to feed their young.
The coat is an important characteristic, as they are easily recognized by the black and white pattern of the fur.
This coat pattern of theirs is related to the camouflage process.
According to research published in Behavioral Ecology, the white part of its body helps it hide in the snow and the black part is camouflage for shade.
The color pattern around the eyes and ears may also be related to their recognition and signaling of aggression to potential predators.
And it's no wonder they're called giants, as these animals can reach more than 1.20 m in height and weigh between 75 and 160 kilos.
Even though they are large, they have predators, which are leopards that attack the cubs.
Panda bear and its diet
Although classified as carnivores, they only eat bamboo, unlike other animals.
They eat abundantly to maintain their daily calories, and can ingest almost 40 kg of bamboo daily.
How Pandas Reproduce
Pandas live alone in the wild, they only meet during mating periods.
However, their breeding season is very short, occurring in spring.
An interesting fact is that females are not receptive throughout the season, with this behavior being observed for about three days.
Therefore, if the males do not look for them on these exact days, reproduction will not occur.
The panda bear's gestation period lasts between 95 and 160 days, so it is long.
The female gives birth to just one cub, which weighs around 200 grams at birth, so these little cubs need their mother for the first few months.
Weaning occurs between the 8th and 9th month and the puppy stays with its mother for approximately 18 months, only leaving her when she is pregnant again.
The risk of extinction of the species
You panda bears They are animals that suffer, mainly, from the reduction of the habitat in which they live.
They are currently classified as vulnerable on the Red List of Species, due to being relocated to the wild. However, in the past, they were on the brink of extinction.
The change in classification status occurs mainly due to efforts to restore the environment in which they live.
According to information from the IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the trend in the panda population is increasing.
The panda bear and its curiosities
- Pandas can spend up to 14 hours a day eating.
- A single one of them can defecate more than 100 times in a single day.
- Because their digestive system is closer to that of a carnivore than that of a herbivore, they need to eat more.
- A mother panda can weigh almost 1000 times more than her baby at birth.
- Therefore, newborn pandas are the smallest mammals at birth. The babies fit in the palm of a human hand.
- The puppies are born almost hairless and blind.
- They have a type of false thumb that helps the animal with various tasks, such as catching its food.
- They eat sitting down.
- In the wild, pandas live for about 20 years, and can live for 25 to 35 years under supervision.
- They have climbing and swimming abilities, and can climb almost 4,000 meters in the mountains in search of food.
- Pandas have a knack for solitude. To be alone, they use their keen sense of smell to avoid contact with others of the same species.
The intelligence of Pandas
In 2014, it was discovered that a female panda raised in a nature reserve had pretended to be pregnant, probably to gain perks that pregnant pandas received.
Researchers at the Chengdu Research Center, who were planning to broadcast the birth of the cub, were surprised by the discovery: she was not expecting a cub.
China Panda Centers
Panda centers are nature reserves in China that fight against the extinction of the panda bear.
Some organizations only keep them in reserves under supervision, while others seek to introduce the bred animals into the wild.
In 2006, the first giant panda born under supervision was taken to live in the forest. Unfortunately, it did not survive, due to fighting with other wildlife.
But the dedication of these and all other reserves made their population grow by 17%.
