   #copyright

Giant Panda

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Mammals

         How to read a taxoboxGiant Panda
   大熊貓
   Panda at National Zoo in Washington, D.C.
   Panda at National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

                             Conservation status

   Endangered ( IUCN)
            Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Mammalia
   Order:   Carnivora
   Family:  Ursidae
   Genus:   Ailuropoda
            Milne-Edwards, 1870
   Species: A. melanoleuca

                                Binomial name

   Ailuropoda melanoleuca
   ( David, 1869)
   Giant Panda range
   Giant Panda range

                                 Subspecies

   A. melanoleuca melanoleuca
   A. melanoleuca qinlingensis

   The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca, "black-and-white cat-foot";
   Chinese: 大熊貓) is a mammal classified in the bear family, Ursidae,
   native to central-western and southwestern China. It is easily
   recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes,
   ears and on its round body. Though belonging to the order Carnivora,
   the panda has a diet which is 99% bamboo. However, they may eat other
   foods such as honey, eggs, fish and yams.

   The Giant Panda is an endangered animal; an estimated 3,000 pandas live
   in the wild and over 180 were reported to live in captivity by August
   2006 in mainland China (another source by the end of 2006 put the
   figure for China at 221), with twenty pandas living outside of China.
   However, reports show that the numbers of wild panda are on the rise.

   The giant panda is a favorite of the public, at least partly on account
   of the fact that the species has an appealing baby-like cuteness that
   makes it seem to resemble a living teddy bear. The fact that it is
   usually depicted reclining peacefully eating bamboo, as opposed to
   hunting, also adds to its image of innocence. Though the giant panda is
   often assumed docile because of their cuteness, they have been known to
   attack humans, usually assumed to be out of irritation rather than
   predatory behaviour.

Description

   The Giant Panda has a very distinctive black-and-white coat. Adults
   measure around 1.5 m long and around 75 cm tall at the shoulder. Males
   can weigh up to 115 kg (253 pounds). Females are generally smaller than
   males, and can occasionally weigh up to 100 kg (220 pounds). Giant
   Pandas live in mountainous regions, such as Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi,
   and Tibet. While the Chinese dragon has been historically a national
   emblem for China, since the latter half of the 20th century the Giant
   Panda has also become an informal national emblem for China. Its image
   appears on a large number of modern Chinese commemorative silver, gold,
   and platinum coins.

   The Giant Panda has an unusual paw, with a " thumb" and five fingers;
   the "thumb" is actually a modified sesamoid bone, which helps the panda
   to hold the bamboo while eating. Stephen Jay Gould wrote an essay about
   this, then used the title The Panda's Thumb for a book of essays
   concerned with evolution and intelligent design. The Giant Panda has a
   short tail, approximately 15 cm long. Giant Pandas can usually live to
   be 20-30 years old while living in captivity.

Behaviour

   Until recently, scientists thought giant pandas spent most of their
   lives alone, with males and females meeting only during the breeding
   season. Recent studies paint a different picture, in which small groups
   of pandas share a large territory and sometimes meet outside the
   breeding season.

   Like most subtropical mammals, but unlike most bears, the giant panda
   does not hibernate.

Diet

   Despite its taxonomic classification as a carnivore, the panda has a
   diet that is primarily herbivorous, which consists almost exclusively
   of bamboo. However, pandas still have the digestive system of a
   carnivore and do not have the ability to digest cellulose efficiently,
   and thus derive little energy and little protein from consumption of
   bamboo. The average Giant Panda eats as much as 20 to 30 pounds of
   bamboo shoots a day. Because pandas consume a diet low in nutrition, it
   is important that they keep their digestive tract full.

   As the average temperature of the region has increased, the panda has
   pushed its habitat to a higher altitude and limited the available
   space. Furthermore, the timber profit, gained from harvesting bamboo -
   the panda's food - has destroyed the food supply for the wild panda
   because of all these elements. From 1973-1984 the population of wild
   pandas decreased by 50 percent in six areas of Asia. Although giant
   pandas subsist on an herbivore's diet, they retain the relatively
   simple digestive trait of a carnivore. The panda's round face is an
   adaptation to its bamboo diet. Their powerful jaw muscles attach from
   the top of the head to the jaw. Large molars crush and grind fibrous
   plant material.

   Twenty-five species of bamboo are eaten by pandas in the wild, but it
   is hard to live in the remains of a forest and feed on dying plants in
   a rugged landscape. Only a few bamboo species are widespread at the
   high altitudes pandas now inhabit. Bamboo leaves contain the highest
   protein levels, stems have less.

   Because of the synchronous flowering, death and regeneration of all
   bamboo within a species, pandas must have a least two different species
   available in their range to avoid starvation. While primarily
   herbivorous, the panda still retains decidedly ursine teeth, and will
   eat meat, fish, and eggs when available. In captivity, zoos typically
   maintain the pandas' bamboo diet, though some will provide specially
   formulated biscuits or other dietary supplements.

Classification

   For many decades the precise taxonomic classification of the panda was
   under debate as both the giant panda and the distantly related red
   panda share characteristics of both bears and raccoons. However,
   genetic testing suggests that giant pandas are true bears and part of
   the Ursidae family, though they differentiated early in history from
   the main ursine stock. The giant panda's closest ursine relative is the
   Spectacled Bear of South America. (Disagreement still remains about
   whether or not the red panda belongs in Ursidae, the raccoon family
   Procyonidae, or in its own family, Ailuridae.)

Subspecies

   Hua Mei, the baby panda born at the San Diego Zoo in 1999
   Hua Mei, the baby panda born at the San Diego Zoo in 1999

   Two subspecies of giant panda have been recognized on the basis of
   distinct cranial measurements, colour patterns, and population genetics
   (Wan et al., 2005).

   Ailuropoda melanoleuca melanoleuca consists of most extant populations
   of panda. These animals are principally found in Sichuan and display
   the typical stark black and white contrasting colors.

   Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis is restricted to the Qinling
   Mountains in Shaanxi at elevations of 1300–3000 m. The typical black
   and white pattern of Sichuan Pandas is replaced with a dark brown
   versus light brown pattern. The skull of A. m. qinlingensis is smaller
   than its relatives and it has larger molars.

Uses and human interaction

   Unlike many other animals in ancient China, pandas were rarely thought
   to have medical uses. In the past, pandas were thought to be rare and
   noble creatures; the mother of Emperor Wen of Han was buried with a
   panda skull in her tomb. Emperor Taizong of Tang was said to have given
   Japan two pandas and a sheet of panda skin as a sign of goodwill.

   The giant panda was first made known to the West in 1869 by the French
   missionary Armand David, who received a skin from a hunter on 11 March
   1869. The first westerner known to have seen a living giant panda is
   the German zoologist Hugo Weigold, who purchased a cub in 1916. Kermit
   and Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., became the first foreigners to shoot a
   panda, on an expedition funded by the Field Museum of Natural History
   in the 1920s. In 1936, Ruth Harkness became the first Westerner to
   bring back a live giant panda, a cub named Su-Lin who went to live at
   the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago. These activities were halted in 1937
   because of wars; and for the next half of the century, the West knew
   little of pandas.
   Gao Gao, an adult male giant panda at San Diego Zoo
   Gao Gao, an adult male giant panda at San Diego Zoo

Panda Diplomacy

   Loans of giant pandas to American and Japanese zoos formed an important
   part of the diplomacy of the People's Republic of China in the 1970s as
   it marked some of the first cultural exchanges between the PRC and the
   West. This practice has been termed " Panda Diplomacy".

   By the year 1984, however, pandas were no longer used as agents of
   diplomacy. Instead, China began to offer pandas to other nations only
   on 10-year loans. The standard loan terms include a fee of up to US$
   1,000,000 per year and a provision that any cubs born during the loan
   are the property of the People's Republic of China. Since 1998, due to
   a WWF lawsuit, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service only allows a U.S.
   zoo to import a panda if the zoo can ensure that China will channel
   more than half of its loan fee into conservation efforts for wild
   pandas and their habitat.

   In May 2005, the People's Republic of China offered Taiwan (Republic of
   China) two pandas as a gift. This proposed gift was met by polarized
   opinions from Taiwan due to complications stemming from cross-strait
   relations. So far Taiwan has not accepted the offer.

Conservation

   Giant pandas are an endangered species, threatened by continued habitat
   loss and by a very low birthrate, both in the wild and in captivity.

   Pandas have been a target for poaching by locals since ancient times
   and by foreigners since they were introduced to the West. Starting in
   the 1930s, foreigners were unable to poach pandas in China because of
   the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War, but pandas
   remained a source of soft furs for the locals. The population boom in
   China after 1949 created stress on the pandas' habitat, and the
   subsequent famines led to the increased hunting of wildlife, including
   pandas. During the Cultural Revolution, all studies and conservation
   activities on the pandas were stopped. After the Chinese economic
   reform, demands for panda skin from Hong Kong and Japan led to illegal
   poaching for the black market, acts generally ignored by the local
   officials at the time.
   Close up of a baby 7-month old panda cub in the Wolong Nature Reserve
   in Sichuan, China.
   Close up of a baby 7-month old panda cub in the Wolong Nature Reserve
   in Sichuan, China.

   Though the Wolong National Nature Reserve was set up by the PRC
   government in 1958 to save the declining pandas, few advances in the
   conservation of pandas were made, due to inexperience and insufficient
   knowledge in ecology. Many believed that the best way to save the
   pandas was to cage them, and as a result, the pandas were caged for any
   sign of decline, and they suffered from terrible conditions. Because of
   pollution and destruction of their natural habitat, along with
   segregation due to caging, reproduction of wild pandas was severely
   limited. In the 1990s, however, several laws (including gun controls
   and moving residents out of the reserves) helped the chances of
   survival for pandas. With the ensued efforts and improved conservation
   methods, wild pandas have started to increase in numbers in some areas,
   even though they still are classified as a rare species.

   In 2006, scientists reported that the number of pandas living in the
   wild may have been underestimated at about 1,000. Previous population
   surveys had used conventional methods to estimate the size of the wild
   panda population, but using a new hi-tech method that analyzes DNA from
   panda droppings, scientists believed that the wild panda population may
   be as large as 3,000. Although the species is still endangered, it is
   thought that the conservation efforts are working. As of 2006, there
   were 40 panda reserves in China, compared to just 13 reserves two
   decades ago.

   Giant pandas are among the world's most adored and protected rare
   animals, and is one of the few in the world whose natural inhabitant
   status was able to gain a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation. The
   Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries, located in the southwest Sichuan
   province and covering 7 natural reserves, was inscribed onto the World
   Heritage List in 2006.

Reproduction

   Contrary to popular belief, Giant pandas do not reproduce slowly.
   Recent studies have shown that wild pandas reproduce as well as North
   American brown bears. A female panda may have 2-3 cubs in a lifetime,
   on average. Growth is slow and pandas may not reach sexual maturity
   until they are five to seven years old. The mating season usually takes
   place from mid-March to mid-May. During this time, two to five males
   can compete for one female; the male with the highest rank gets the
   female. When mating, the female is in a crouching, head-down position
   as the male mounts from behind. Copulation time is short, ranging from
   thirty seconds to five minutes, but the male may mount repeatedly to
   ensure successful fertilization.

   The whole gestation period ranges from 83 to 163 days, with 135 days
   being the average. Baby pandas weigh only 90 to 130 grams (3.2 to 4.6
   ounces), which is about 1/900th of the mother’s weight. Usually, the
   female panda gives birth to one or two panda cubs. Since baby pandas
   are born very small and helpless, they need the mother’s undivided
   attention, so she is able to care for only one of her cubs. She usually
   abandons one of her cubs, and it dies soon after birth. At this time,
   scientists do not know how the female chooses which cub to raise, and
   this is a topic of ongoing research. The father has no part in helping
   with raising the cub.

   When the cub is first born, it is pink, naked and blind. It nurses from
   its mother's breast 6–14 times a day for up to 30 minutes each time.
   For three to four hours, the mother might leave the den to feed, which
   leaves the panda cub defenseless. One to two weeks after birth, the
   cub's skin turns gray where its hair will eventually become black. A
   slight pink colour may appear on the panda's fur, as a result of a
   chemical reaction between the fur and its mother's saliva. A month
   after birth, the colour pattern of the cub’s fur is fully developed. A
   cub's fur is very soft and coarsens with age. The cub begins to crawl
   at 75 to 90 days and the mothers play with their cubs by rolling and
   wrestling with them. The cubs are able to eat small quantities of
   bamboo after six months, though mother's milk remains the primary food
   source for most of the first year. Giant panda cubs weigh 45 kg (99.2
   pounds) at one year and live with their mother until they are 18 months
   to two years old. The interval between births in the wild is generally
   two years.

   Breeders and biologists often experience difficulty in inducing captive
   pandas to mate, threatening their already diminished population. This
   problem may stem from the captive bears' lack of experience. In an
   attempt to remedy this, some keepers in China and Thailand have shown
   their subjects videos containing footage of mating pandas. In some
   cases, the bears have been sufficiently stimulated from the videos to
   engage in reproductive activity. It is not likely that the animals
   actually learn mating behaviors from the video; rather, scientists
   believe that hearing the associated sounds has a stimulating effect on
   the bears exposed to it.

Name

   The name "panda" originates with a Himalayan language, possibly
   Nepalese. And as used in the West it was originally applied to the red
   panda, to which the giant panda was thought to be related. Until its
   relation to the red panda was discovered in 1901, the giant panda was
   known as Mottled Bear (Ailuropus melanoleucus) or Particolored Bear.

   The Chinese language name for the giant panda, 大熊貓, literally
   translates to "large bear cat", or just "bear cat" (熊貓).

   Most bears' eyes have round pupils. The exception is the giant panda,
   whose pupils are vertical slits like cats' eyes. These unusual eyes,
   combined with its ability to effortlessly scale trees, are what
   inspired the Chinese to call the panda the "large bear cat".

Pandas in zoos

   Panda in Moscow Zoo on 1964 Soviet Union 2 kopeks postal stamp
   Panda in Moscow Zoo on 1964 Soviet Union 2 kopeks postal stamp

   A 2006 New York Times article outlined the economics of keeping pandas,
   which costs five times more than that of the next most expensive
   animal, an elephant. American zoos must pay the Chinese government $2
   million a year in fees, part of what is typically a ten-year contract.
   San Diego's contract with China is the first to expire, in 2008. The
   last contract in Memphis ends in 2013.

North America

   As of early 2007, five major North American zoos have giant pandas:
     * San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California - home of Bai Yun (F), Gao Gao
       (M), Mei Sheng (M), and a female cub named Su Lin
     * US National Zoo, Washington, D.C. - home of Mei Xiang (F), Tian
       Tian (M), and a male cub named Tai Shan
     * Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia - home of Lun Lun (F), Yang Yang (M),
       and a female cub named Mei Lan (F)
     * Memphis Zoo, Memphis, Tennessee - home of Ya Ya (F) and Le Le (M)
     * Chapultepec Zoo, Mexico City - home of Shuan Shuan, Xin Xin, and Xi
       Hua, all females

Notable North American-born pandas

     * Tai Shan, born July 9, 2005 at the National Zoo in Washington.
     * Su Lin, born August 2, 2005 at the San Diego Zoo.
     * Mei Lan, born September 6, 2006 at Zoo Atlanta.

Europe

   Giant panda in Vienna’s zoo Tiergarten Schönbrunn
   Giant panda in Vienna’s zoo Tiergarten Schönbrunn

   Two zoos in Europe show giant pandas:
     * Zoologischer Garten Berlin, Berlin, Germany - home of Bao Bao, age
       27, the oldest male panda living in captivity; he has been in
       Berlin for 25 years and has never reproduced.
     * Tiergarten Schönbrunn, Vienna, Austria - home to two pandas (a male
       and a female) born in Wolong, China in 2000.

   London, Madrid, and Paris no longer have pandas, although Madrid is
   exploring the possibility of obtaining pandas in the future.

Asia

     * Chengdu Research base of Giant Panda Breeding, Chengdu, Sichuan,
       China - Home to a number of captive giant pandas, including 2-year
       old Xiong Bang (M), who just arrived from Japan. Twelve cubs were
       born here in 2006.
     * Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Centre, Sichuan, China -
       Seventeen cubs were born here in 2006.
     * Chiang Mai Zoo, Chiang Mai, Thailand - home to Chuang Chuang (M)
       and Lin Hui (F). Much to the joy of the public, the two have
       recently been observed mating and it is hoped that cubs will be
       produced from the union.
     * Ocean Park, Hong Kong - home to Jia Jia (F) and An An (M) since
       1999. Two further pandas named Le Le and Ying Ying are added to
       Ocean Park on April 26, 2007.

   Pandas in Japan have double names: a Japanese name and a Chinese name.
   Three zoos in Japan show giant pandas:
     * Ueno Zoo, Tokyo - home of Ling Ling (M), he is the only panda with
       "Japanese citizenship".
     * Oji Zoo, Kobe, Hyogo - home of Kou Kou (M), Tan Tan (F)
     * Adventure World, Shirahama, Wakayama - Ei Mei (M), Mei Mei (F), Rau
       Hin (F), Ryu Hin and Syu Hin (male twins), and Kou Hin (M). Yu Hin
       (M) went to China in 2004. In December 2006, twin cubs were born to
       Ei Mei and Mei Mei.

Pandas on television

   The first sequences of pandas in the wild were shot by Franz Camenzind
   for American Broadcasting Company in about 1982. They were bought by
   BBC Natural History Unit for their weekly magazine show Nature.

   Recently NHNZ has featured pandas in two documentaries. Panda Nursery
   (2006) featured China’s Wolong Nature Reserve in the mountains in
   Sichuan Province, forty giant pandas and a dedicated team of staff play
   a crucial role in ensuring the survival of the species. As part of the
   Reserve’s panda breeding programme, a revolutionary new method of
   rearing twin cubs called ‘swap-raising’ has been developed. Each cub is
   raised by both its natural mother and one of the Reserve’s
   veterinarians, Wei Rongping, to increase the chances of both cubs
   surviving. Growing Up: Giant Panda (2003) featured Chengdu Giant Panda
   Centre in south-west China as one of the best in the world. But with
   female pandas' short fertility cycles and low birth rates, raising the
   captive panda population is an uphill battle.

Pandas in popular culture

   Pandas are a popular animal in eastern and western culture. In part due
   to their widely recognized cuteness, Pandas have often appeared in
   television programs, cartoons, and picture-books while their images
   have graced all manner of consumer products. For example:
     * Panda Express is the name of an American fast food chain that
       serves American Chinese cuisine. Panda Express' logo is a cartoon
       panda. Some franchises give donations to panda preservation groups.
       Other Americanized Chinese restaurants may have names such as Panda
       Garden and Panda Palace.
     * The title of Lynne Truss's book, Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero
       Tolerance Approach to Punctuation.
     * The World Wide Fund for Nature logo is a stylized panda.
     * A panda named Jing Jing is one of the Friendlies, the mascots for
       the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
     * Pandaren, humanised versions of Pandas appear several times in
       Blizzard's RTS game Warcraft III - The Frozen Throne as a playabe
       hero in the Orc campaign. The Pandaren are depicted as devout
       brewers of alcohol, possibly a reference to the incident involving
       a drunken man and a Panda. Pandaren were also thought to be the
       secret new race for the Alliance in World of Warcraft: The Burning
       Crusade, until it was revealed to be the Draenei.
     * ' Panda' is a playable character in the arcade fighting game
       Tekken. Within the game storyline, Panda is a pet of the character
       Ling Xiaoyu.
     * The Giant Panda is the most expensive animal in Zoo Tycoon and Zoo
       Tycoon 2, therefore making it the hardest to keep.
     * Tarepanda is a popular mascot cartoon for the San-X company in
       Japan that produces stationary and office supplies. The name means
       "lazy panda".
     * In the manga and anime series Ranma ½, Ranma's father Genma
       transforms into a giant, mute panda when he is doused in cold
       water. As a panda he communicates by holding up signs.
     * The Panda is the informal national animal of China.
     * A panda who learns martial arts is the central character in the
       forthcoming animated film Kung Fu Panda (2008), voiced by Jack
       Black.
     * There is a Sanrio fictional character named Pandaba, who is a
       sidekick of Badtz Maru.
     * Enjoi Skateboards' logo is a stylized panda.
     * The birth of a baby panda is a central plot point of the movie
       Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004).
     * Andy Panda was a series of animated cartoon short subjects produced
       by Walter Lantz and released by Universal Pictures from 1939 to
       1949.
     * There is a Mexican rock band named Panda.
     * The webcomic PvP has a running joke in which the character Brent
       Sienna is attacked by a giant panda whenever the word 'panda' is
       spoken.
     * In Mexico, gummy bears are often called "panditas" (little pandas),
       due to the most popular brand of gummy bears adopted as a generic
       name.
     * In the South Park episode Sexual Harassment Panda, the title
       character is a mascot, a man dressed in panda costume that explains
       to the children why sexual harassment is bad.
     * The children's show Mister Rogers Neighbourhood featured a
       character named Purple Panda, who came from a planet where
       everything was purple.
     * Washington Metro farecards have pictures of pandas printed on them.
     * The character Tenten of Naruto, her name is based off double names
       commonly given too pandas; her hairstyle is also based on panda
       ears.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Panda"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
