HOW THE GIANT PANDA CAME TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

On September 22, 1934 Mr. Bill Harkness went to China to find a panda. While in China he developed throat cancer and died in early 1936 before he was able to find a panda. On April 17, 1936 Mrs. Ruth Harkness set off for China to complete the mission here husband had set out to do. Many people didnt think a woman would be able to do this. She traveled by ship and met Yang Di Lin or as he was called in English Quentin Young. He didnt think she was crazy and he offered to help her. They gathered the right explores clothes. A tailor cut down some of Mr. Harkness clothes to fit and a shoemaker cobbled down a pair of Mr. Harkness boots. They packed 22 bags of clothes and supplies. Mrs. Harkness even packed a bottle and some dried milk just in case the panda they found was a baby. On September 26, 1936, late at night they set off to find the panda. The journey was long and rough and she almost cried but she didnt turn back. During their travels the met a gentleman named Lao Tsang. He was an old man with wild grey hair and no teeth. He said that he knew where to find bei-shung the Chinese word for panda and he offered to take them there. The next day they traveled 30 miles up the mountain. They found a spot to set up camp and the men set traps to capture the panda alive. They found panda droppings, bamboo stalks that pandas had crunched and claw marks on trees, but no pandas. On November 9, 1936, Mrs. Harkness, Quentin and Lao Tsang climbed higher up the mountain in the snow to see if any pandas had wandered into their traps. But there were none. Mrs. Harkness heard a shout. They struggled through the bamboo and found a baby panda in an old dead tree. They took the panda back to the camp. It was a good thing she brought the bottle and milk. Mrs. Harkness named the baby panda Su Lin, which means a little bit of something very cute. She was so proud; she had completed her husbands mission. Before she returned home she scattered her husbands ashes in the Chinese mountains and gave her wedding ring to Quentin to give to his fianc. Mrs. Harkness returned to America and she found a home for Su Lin in the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, Illinois.

PHYSICAL TRAITS
Pandas are covered in black and white fur. Their bellies and face are white and their arms, legs, around the eyes and ears are black. The skin under the fur of the white areas is pink and the skin under the black areas is dark. The fur is coarse and oily to keep the pandas body warm and dry. The fur is about 2 inches long. Pandas have a small tail Pandas have 5 fingers on their hands and 5 toes on their feet. Their claws are long and sharp. Pandas have strong teeth and jaws. A pandas side teeth can cut through bamboo stems that are as thick as a mans leg. A pandas throat has a tough lining so the panda isnt hurt by the bamboo splinters. Pandas stand 2-3 feet tall at the shoulder (on all four feet) and about 5-6 feet long. Female pandas are smaller than males usually weighing no more than 220 pounds. Male pandas weigh about 250 pounds. Pandas have poor eyesight, but they have excellent senses of smell and hearing.

HABITAT
Wild pandas are only found in southwest China. They live in cold, damp, thick bamboo forests. Pandas spend most of the year in these forests. In winter they come down to the lower slopes to get away from the deep snow and freezing cold. Hot, dry weather is bad for pandas.

FAMILIES
Pandas are solitary animals. Pandas can begin to have young when they are about 6 years old. During the short breeding season every spring a female panda that is ready to mate leaves a scent message for the male. She does this by rubbing her bottom on rocks and plants and also makes loud bleating noises. Male pandas living nearby can smell and hear her signals and can come find her. After the female mates she drives other males away. Five months later, one or two panda cubs are born. The mother raises her young alone. A baby panda is the size of a rat and 3-4 ounces. It is pink with thin white fur. About a month later the cub has the special black and white panda pattern. It starts to crawl at 3 months. When it is 6 months old it is usually able to look after itself. Usually at 11 months old it is ready to leave its mother.

EATING/SLEEPING HABITS
A long time ago Pandas used to be carnivores. But over time they mainly eat three types of bamboo (golden bamboo, arrow bamboo and umbrella bamboo). They eat the entire bamboo plant. Occasionally they will eat grasses, roots, bulbs and tree bark. Sometimes they catch cane rats and fish. They often take long drinks from streams and rivers. Pandas eat upright with their backs propped against a tree. It bites of a length of bamboo and uses its forepaw to hold the food in its mouth. They have a unique kind of thumb on each forepaw. The thumb is a special enlarged wrist bone covered by a leathery pad. The pandas first strips off the tough outer part of the bamboo, and then crushes the pith (inside portion) with its large strong jaws and teeth. Bamboo is mostly water and not very nutritious so a panda has to eat 35 pounds of bamboo each day. This can take them up to 14 hours. A pandas life is very lazy and peaceful. They basically just eat and sleep. They only sleep for 2 to 4 hours at a time. So really they just eat and take naps all day long.

LIFE EXPECTANCY
Pandas are on the endangered species list. There are only approximately 1000 pandas in the wild and around 100 in zoos around the world. Pandas in the wild normally only live for 12 years but can live up to 20. Pandas in captivity or zoos can live up to 30 years.

PROBLEMS FOR PANDAS

Wild animals arent a problem for adult pandas but wild animals sometimes kill baby pandas. The pandas biggest problem is that China has lots of people. They cut down the bamboo forests to build towns so the pandas habitats are being destroyed and pandas are being crowded into smaller and smaller places. All bamboo of a certain kind dies out without notice. This is part of the normal life cycle of bamboo. But when this happens sometime pandas cant reach other areas because of people and they starve to death. Poaching is a problem for pandas. It is illegal to hunt pandas but poachers do it because they can make lots of money by selling panda bones, body parts and skins. Legal hunters are a problem too because their traps can sometimes catch pandas. The Chinese people and conservation organizations are working to help protect the pandas. There are now 12 special panda reserves where 450 pandas live in safety. Armed guards patrol the reserves to protect the pandas from hunters and to ensure that local people dont destroy the trees.