Giant Pandas

By: Eden Deckerhoff

Facts about pandas

Did you know that there are only about 2000-3000 wild Giant Pandas and about 300 of them live in captivity and zoos? Some basic facts about Pandas are, the type of species they are is mammal, their diet is omnivore, and their lifespan on average in the wild is about 20 years. Giant pandas normally grow to 4 to 5 feet, and weigh 300 pounds and are only found in the temperate forests of China. A Pandas diet is made up of 99% bamboo. Giant pandas are from the southwestern regions of China, but their Panda ancestors are from Spain. Scientists have recently found fossils of an Agriarctos Beatrix in Spain and by its teeth they have concluded that it is part of the bear family and more specifically, the panda family. Some treats to Giant Pandas are hunting, habitat loss and extinction. Hunting has always been a threat and always will, people hunt Pandas for their fur. Pandas are losing their habitats because of forest destruction. Forest destruction is tearing down the pandas bamboo environment and limits their access to bamboo that they need to survive with. Pandas play a crucial role in the forests they live in. When they roam the spread seeds for more plants to grow and stunning vegetation growth. In the Yangtze Basin where Giant Pandas live, live more amazing beautiful animals like the Golden Monkey, the Blue Dwarf Sheep, multi-colored Pheasants, Takin, and Crested Ibis, and did you know that all of those animals are endangered.

All Giant Pandas owned by China?

They are a highly endangered species, and are all owned by China. China lends zoos giant pandas, so basically all the Pandas in zoos are on a ten-year vacation. In the 1950s china started to give Pandas to zoos. For example, in 1972 China gave two Giant Pandas to the United States as thanks for President Nixon visiting the nation. But then in 1984 China wouldnt give away Pandas anymore, they started lending them out for 10 years, and one million dollars a year to pay for Chinas Wildlife Foundation. And get this, any cubs born to the Pandas that are loaned out, have to be sent back to China. The baby Panda recently born in Washington D.C. will be sent back to China if it survives. There are four zoos in America that rent Pandas they are in Atlanta, Washington D.C., San Diego, and Memphis. There are also zoos in Thailand, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Mexico, France, Spain, Austria, and Australia has Giant Pandas.

New Born Pandas

On September 14 2013 China put fourteen baby Giant Pandas all born this year born in the months of July- August for the public to see on one of Chinas five day holidays.

So far in the 2013 there have been 20 baby Giant Pandas born but only 17 have survived so far Some zoos have baby Giant Pandas, the zoo in Washington D.C. has recently had a baby Giant Panda born on August 23, 2013, soon if that baby Panda survives it will go back to China. The mothers name was Mei Xiang. The Zoo in Atlanta also has a Giant Panda and she gave birth to two twin baby pandas on July 15. They are the first ever born Giant Panda cubs to survive in America that are twins. They were also the only set of Giant Pandas born in the U.S. since 1987. After one hundred days baby Giant Pandas get named according to the Chinese tradition. These baby Pandas in Atlanta are named Mei Lun and Mei Huan. Their Moms name is Lun Lun and that is where the one panda gets the Lun. There was also a baby Panda born in Taiwan on July 6 and it is also the first baby Giant Panda born there. They have named this Panda Yuan Zia and her dads name is Tuan Tuan and her moms name is Yuan Yuan and is nine years old. In Vienna, Austria. They have not named the baby Panda yet because it has not been one hundred days since it has been born. Its mother is Yang Yang and its father is Long Hui, and its been the first Giant Panda born in captivity in Europe. When it was born it was only four inches long and weighed 3.5 ounces. On June twenty-second Haiza a Giant Panda in Sichuan, China gave birth to twotwin baby Giant Pandas the cubs arrived about 10 minutes apart and both of them weighed about less than three ounces. One Panda cub was a female and the other one was a female. Well that is not the entire baby Giant Pandas born this year but it is about five of them.

Mating
Many people see mating as away too continue the Giant Panda race, which is what it is but some Giant Pandas that live in Captivity that are males are not interested in mating like the females. But some giant pandas dont know how to mate. For example, the first pair of Giant Pandas to live in the United States, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, tried to have cubs for ten years but it was unsuccessful but then once they learned how to mate they had five cubs, but none lived to adulthood. When Pandas mate, male Pandas fight with others male Pandas to win the females affection so they can mate and usually males and females mate many times during the mating season. The mating season also gives younger Giant Pandas the chance to learn about mating. This process also makes sure that each fertile female becomes pregnant. Wild Giant Pandas will normally give birth every two years for five-teen years. In the zoos outside of China they normally have one male and one female so that the males dont have to compete with other males and they can just get straight to mating. Females are normally in estrus (ready to mate mode) for 12-25 days. In the wild female Giant Pandas sexually mature

and are ready to mate around the age six and a half. They normally wont give birth or have babies until they are seven and a half. Many Giant Pandas mate in mountainous regions or in fields alone but some that have a unique style of mating will mate in trees.

Giving Birth
Giant Pandas give birth after three to five months of being pregnant and before she gives birth she will often make a dry bed with bamboo leaves. Female Giant pandas will often give birth in the fine days of autumn. A newborn Giant Panda cub has an all pink body barley covered in white hair and is one hundred grams on average only one thousandth of its mothers weight. When a baby Panda is first born it is very vulnerable and completely weak like when humans are born they cannot even stand. When they are born they are also blind.