Panda (Cat Bear) - A China’s Political Animal.

By Ravi RD on 31 AUG 2016

An iconic, charismatic and rarest creature, the Giant panda is also known as 'cat bear' lives only in china, while outside of captivity this fluffy bear has captured the hearts of people of all ages across the globe. From their black and white body to their shy and docile nature, they are considered one of the most loved animals. With china's latest effort to ensure the long-term survival of the beloved Panda making headlines around the world, the estimated number of Giant pandas in the wild varied between 1500 & 3000.

Image Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_panda

The giant pandas are also known as Bamboo Beer, Panda Beer, Asian Beer and in Chinese 'Daxiongmao'. The Latin name, as well as scientific name, is Ailuropodamelanoleuca, which means 'black and white cat-foot' and its only one species of the giant panda.

The giant pandas are highly specialized animal, with unique adaptions. They are normally 60-90cm tall and 1.2 - 1.8m long, weighted up to 100-150kg. This enigmatic bear mostly spends his day resting and feeding, lay almost exclusively on bamboo. Its inefficient digestive system is closer to that of a carnivore (whose main diet is meat) than a herbivore (whose main diet is grass, tree leaves etc.).It passes a great deal of waste and spends 10-16 (almost two third of their day) hours consuming up to 18kg per day of bamboo.

When it comes to breeding, female panda ovulates once a year & are sexually mature aged 4-8 years. During the breeding season (March to May), they may take multiple mates. One or two cubs used to born (normally in August to September); the mother raises only one which stays with her for up to three years.

Panda cubs are born blind and extremely immature, weighing only 80-200 grams, and are about the size of a stick of butter. They are pink in color, with short sparse white hair, and are 1/900th the size of their mother, one of the smallest newborn mammals relative to its mother's size.

The Giant panda lives in the high mountains and deep valley of the south-central chain such as shaan xi province, Minshan mountains in Sichuan and Ganus province, Daxiagling province etc. occupying temperate forest 1500 - 3000 m above sea level, having longevity up to 30 years in captivity; probably less in the wild. Their conservation status is 'endangered'. Official estimate suggests there are fewer than 1600 mature giant pandas in the wild.

In the late 1920s, American president Theodore Roosevelt's son Kermit and Theodore Roosevelt Junior to be the first westerners to shoot a panda dead. The panda was put on display in Chicago's Field museum the following year.

WWF (World Wildlife Fund) chose its now-famous logo in 1961, by announcing publicly that WWF had chosen the panda because it owes its survival to the sort of careful conservation which all wild creatures deserve; but this was not quite true. WWF wanted an animal that was precious, charismatic and rare as its symbol. It also needed something that would look good in black and white as Chinese and now others too believe in Yin - yang forces that are what universe is made of. The Chinese believe that the docile nature of the panda represents how the Yin and Yang bring peace and harmony when perfectly balanced.

In 1972, Richard Nixon was the first American president who ever visited china. The leader of Chinese nationalist party gave two pandas to Mr. Nixon, the first time the species used as a political gift. Later, those two pandas were put to show off in the national zoo in Washington D.C.

Cloning of panda! With funding from China's ministry of science and technology, Chinese researchers began using rabbits as a source of eggs and as a surrogate mother, but That wasn't quite successful, cloning the first panda will be the herculean task for the scientist.

In 1936, Fashion designer and socialite Ruth Harkness became the first westerner to remove a live panda from China. This panda named Sun-Lin lived in Chicago's Brookfield Zoo until his death in 1938.

Giant pandas have existed since the Pleistocene era (about 600,000years ago). In china, Giant pandas are considered as a National Treasure, as they have been a symbol of peace in china.

A French catholic missionary and zoologist, Pére Armand was the first who got his hands on a couple of individual pandas in 1869. He was the first to send panda skins to Europe for study. He contributed to the first accurate prediction and formal scientific description.

In between 1996 and 2000, WWF trained more than 300 panda reserve staff and local government officials in mature reserves management, wildlife monitoring, anti-poaching patrolling for pandas and innovative community based on conservation approaches.

In 1963, the first giant panda cub was born in captivity, weighted only 125grams. Twin pandas were born in china- the first captive- born twins and first successful used of artificial insemination in pandas. This is now the most common way of captive panda breeding, in 1990.

Giant Padas are also susceptible to poaching, or illegal killing as their fur carries a high price in an illegal market.The penalties for poaching pandas are the toughest. China's wild animal protection Act of 1989 rules that anyone caught killing a panda or even poaching would face at least 10 years in prison or in extreme cases, death.

Scientists have debated for more than 100 years whether giant pandas belong to the bear family, the raccoon family or a separate family of their own. This is because the giant panda and its cousin, Red panda shares many characteristics with both bear and raccoon.

The giant panda has unique front paws—one of the wrist bones is enlarged and elongated and is used like a thumb, enabling the giant panda to grasp stalks of bamboo. They also have very powerful jaws and teeth to crush bamboo.

Giant pandas are among the rarest mammals in the world—there are an estimated 1,600 left in the wild. Although adult giant pandas have few natural enemies, the young are sometimes preyed upon by leopards.

Giant pandas climb trees and swim.

Every breeding institution in china receives a financial reward for each new panda cub they rear. This has certain benefits as it helping to bring the world's most precious species back on the earth. Conservation efforts by WWF and breeding programs by Chinese government in corporation with WWF are currently in place to restore panda populations to their native habitat in the mountain forests of southwest China.

Being docile and calm, Panda attacks are rare. But if you try to provoke them by approaching an adult panda in zoo or reserve to tease or take selfie you will be one of the rarest person on earth hit by panda.

This adorable bear cat really doesn't have any natural enemy, in fact, Humans are their main enemy. People hunt this charismatic Asian bear for their unique colored petts. Another enemy is the leopard. The leopard only hunts baby panda cubs if they wander from their mother.

Under the giant panda's white fur, their skin is pale in color and under the black fur, their skin is black.

Today, only about 24 giant pandas live in Zoos outside of china in 1980 and about 300 giant pandas are in captivity in Chinese zoos. In 1980 the first giant panda birth outside chine took place at the Mexico City Zoo.

Giant pandas are currently outside of china but in America zoos —San Diego, Atlanta, National, and Memphis under rules & regulation by the giant panda policy.

In corporation with china conservation and research center for the giant panda (CCRCGP), Chinese government has set aside more than 40 nature reserves where bamboo flourishes and giant pandas are thought to live. They are also being remotely observed by using 55 surveillance cameras and GPS.

being loved for the yeas now of the public, at least partly on account of the fact that the species has an appealing baby look likea living teddy bear. Despite being universally most precious, charismatic & loved and the symbol of peace & harmony the giant panda's future remains uncertain.

References:

http://facts.randomhistory.com/giant-panda-facts.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_panda

Books of animal records

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