Panda

= Panda =


 * Species:** //Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis//
 * Domain:** Eukarya
 * Kingdom:** Animalia
 * Phylum:** Chordata
 * Class:** Mammalia
 * Order:** Carnivora
 * Family:** Ursidae
 * Genus:**Ailuropoda

The giant panda or panda (//Ailuropoda melanoleuca//, literally meaning "black and white cat-foot") is a bearnative to central-western and south western China.It is easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around the eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the panda's diet is 99% bamboo. Pandas in the wild will occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents or carrion. In captivity they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared feed. The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan province, but also in the Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. Due to farming, deforestation and other development, the panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived.

Habitat
The giant panda's diet is primarily herbivorous, consisting almost exclusively of bamboo. However, the giant panda still has the digestive system of a carnivore, as well as carnivore-specific genes, and thus derives little energy and little protein from consumption of bamboo. Its ability to digest cellulose is ascribed to the microbes in its gut. The giant panda is a "highly specialized" animal with "unique adaptations", and has lived in bamboo forests for millions of years. Giant pandas live in broadleaf and coniferous forests with a dense understory of bamboo, at elevations between 5,000 and 10,000 feet. Torrential rains or dense mist throughout the year characterizes these forests, often shrouded in heavy clouds. Pandas eating bamboo at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Panda eating, standing, playing

Pandas eat any of twenty-five bamboo species in the wild, such as //Fargesia dracocephala// and //Fargesia rufa.// Only a few bamboo species are widespread at the high altitudes pandas now inhabit. Bamboo leaves contain the highest protein levels; stems have less. Given this large diet, the giant panda can defecate up to 40 times a day Because of the synchronous flowering, death, and regeneration of all bamboo within a species, the giant panda must have at least two different species available in its range to avoid starvation. While primarily herbivorous, the giant panda still retains decidedly ursine teeth, and will eat meat, fish, and eggs when available. In captivity, zoos typically maintain the giant panda's bamboo diet, though some will provide specially-formulated biscuits or other dietary supplements. The giant panda is an endangered species, threatened by continued habitat loss and by a very low birthrate, both in the wild and in captivity. The giant panda has been a target for poaching by locals since ancient times and by foreigners since it was introduced to the West.

Species Interactions
These bears are found only in a remote and high level area in China near Tibet; they feed on some 30 species of bamboo plants only found in that region. Because of these habits they are amongst the endangered species of animals left on. Pandas eat any of twenty-five bamboo species in the wild. Most of bamboo growth in the forest cause the adaptation and weather to grow. They have strong hands to wrap their food.

**Reproduction**
Giant pandas can live up to 30 years in captivity, but usually only 15 to 20 years in the wild. Giant pandas are born tiny (about 100g or 4 ounces), blind, white and helpless. The mother cradles her tiny cub in a paw and doesn’t leave the den for several days after giving birth, even to drink. Cubs soon develop soft gray fur which becomes coarser and develops its black and white pattern in a month. Cubs rely on mother’s milk for the first year, but start to eat bamboo after six months. They can crawl at three months. Cubs easily die in the wild because they are so small and defenceless. The mother has to leave them alone in the den to eat for four hours a day. Giant pandas weigh about 45 kg at one year. Cubs live with their mothers for up to two years. Giant pandas are fully mature and able to breed at six years old. The rate of reproduction is about one cub every two years, with gestation taking 3-5 months. Giant pandas reach breeding maturity between four and eight years of age. They may be reproductive until about age 20. Female pandas ovulate only once a year, in the spring. A short period of two to three days around ovulation is the only time she is able to conceive. Calls and scents draw males and females to each other. Female giant pandas give birth between 95 and 160 days after mating. Although females may give birth to two young, usually only one survives. Giant panda cubs may stay with their mothers for up to three years before striking out on their own. This means a wild female, at best, can produce young only every other year; in her lifetime, she may successfully raise only five to eight cubs. The giant pandas’ naturally slow breeding rate prevents a population from recovering quickly from illegal hunting, habitat loss, and other human-related causes of mortality.

**Instructor Approval**
The Giant Panda is also an animal of philosophical importance in Chinese culture. The Chinese ascribe much importance to the Yin and the Yang, two opposing forces of the universe that are present in all aspects of nature. A common representation of the Yin and the Yang is a circle, half black and half white, depicting the dichotomy of the two colors but the interconnected nature of the two forces. The Giant Panda is thought to be a physical manifestation of the Yin and the Yang, as its body is both black and white, the two colors standing in stark contrast to one another on the animals pelt. The placid nature of the panda is a demonstration of how the Yin and the Yang, when perfectly balanced, contribute to harmony and peace. The Chinese poet Bai Juyi credited the panda with the mystical powers capable of warding off natural disasters and exorcising evil spirits. Panda skins appear scattered throughout Chinese imperial records, as gifts or tributes on great occasions of states. The giant panda was totally unknown outside the secretive "Middle Kingdom" until the declining Qing Dynasty was slowly forced to open its doors to trade and Christianity towards the end of the 19th century.

Cite and Wed search
Schaller, George B. "Panda." //Encyclopedia Americana.// Grolier Online, 2012. Web. 17 Jan. 2012. "Panda." //Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia.// Grolier Online, 2012. Web. 18 Jan. 2012. [] [] []