Content
- panda bear origin
- Panda Bear Characteristics
- Where does the panda bear live?
- panda bear feeding
- panda bear habits
- panda bear reproduction
- Curiosities
scientific name Ailuropoda melanoleuca, the panda bear or giant panda is one of the most famous animals in the world. Stuffed animals, cartoons, t-shirts, costumes... of course their presence is noticeable in almost every field. But, did you know that its origin may have been in Spain and not China? At PeritoAnimal, we'll get to know all the details about this fascinating and ancient species that arouses so much sympathy with its adorable appearance, as well as the dangers that surround it and how we could fight them. Keep reading and find out all about the panda bear, information for children and adults, which allow us to learn more about this precious animal.
Source- Asia
- Europe
panda bear origin
Although this species has always been considered to have originated in Asia, new evolutionary studies have challenged this well-established belief. More specifically, they locate the origin of a primitive species of today's pandas, that is, an ancestor in genetic terms, in the Iberian Peninsula. This new theory emerged from fossil remains found in Barcelona and Zaragoza, older than those found in China, since the remains found in Spain are between 11 and 12 million years old, while those found in China are 7 or at most 8 million years old. According to theory, the origin of the panda subspecies would have occurred in the peninsula, from where it would have spread across Eurasia, although it is currently found only in China and in some parts of Southeast Asia.
Although the panda bear has been considered an endangered species for years, in 2014 many more specimens were recorded than in the previous decade – specifically, 1,864 pandas in the wild. Therefore, as of September 4, 2016, the international authorities responsible for this categorization, specifically the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), have changed the category of pandas. They are now considered a vulnerable species rather than an endangered one, as it is considered that they are no longer at risk of extinction unless some unpredictable catastrophe occurs. the number of individuals exceeded 2,000.
Panda Bear Characteristics
The size of the panda bear is variable. Giant panda specimens can weigh over 150 kilos, with males being larger than females. The height can reach almost two meters, although they are usually between 1.4 and 1.8 meters in length. The height at the withers is about 90-100 centimeters. Thus, when describing the panda bear, we can say that they are quite stout bears, with a robust and rounded appearance. A special feature is that they have a "sixth finger" on the forelegs, longer than the hind limbs and resembling a human thumb, allowing them to grasp and hold objects, in addition to climbing trees. It's not really a hinged finger, but an extension of the wrist bone.
Continuing with the physical characteristics of the panda bear, its head is flat, with a greatly reduced snout ending in a developed nose, which guarantees it a excellent sense of smell. The eyes are small and the pupils are elongated rather than round, similar to those of a house cat. The ears are round, large and erect. The tail is round, pompom-shaped, usually measuring about 10-12 centimeters in circumference.
THE The panda bear's coat is, without a doubt, the species' trademark., with a mixture of black and white, but distributed in a particular way. The distribution would be as follows: black on the nose, ears, shoulders and extremities, as well as the two eye spots; white on chest, belly, face and back. It's not really a nuclear white, but a slightly yellowish hue.
Where does the panda bear live?
If you want to know what the panda bear's habitat is, we can say that in the wild it lives exclusively in isolated regions of the mountains of China and some places in Southeast Asia. They live in bamboo groves, where the climate is characterized by high humidity and very low temperatures, which is normal because they live in areas where the altitude is over 1500 meters. However, in winter, when temperatures are extreme and snow is plentiful, they can descend to areas that are around 1,000 meters high.
Panda bears do not like the company of humans, so they opt for areas where agriculture or livestock is not practiced, preferring conifer and pine forests where there is a lot of bamboo. In these places, the foliage is dense and thick, and so they avoid being disturbed by humans. Upon detecting a person, these bears quickly flee and hide.
One of the great threats that hangs over this species is that the subtropical forests where they lived, which stretched across extensive valleys across China, were replaced by rice plantations, wheat and other cereals. These forests were below the 1,500 meters high that we mentioned, and bamboo was plentiful, but as they disappeared, the panda bears were forced to retreat to the high mountains where small areas of forest still exist, usually located between 1,500-2,000 meters above sea level. height, although the most common is that they have to climb more than 2,000 meters to find regions where there is enough bamboo to guarantee their survival. In this way, the panda bear's habitat is threatened and this is one of the main reasons for being part of the list of animals in danger of extinction.
panda bear feeding
Panda bears are omnivorous animals, although there is a widespread belief that they are completely herbivores, as they feed on vegetables such as roots, bulbs or flowers, in addition to bamboo, which is the food they most consume. However, the truth is, if we stick to its anatomy, the panda bear have the digestive system of a carnivorous animal. In addition, their diet usually contains foods of animal origin such as eggs or small mammals and rodents.
Having a carnivore's stomach makes it clear that the panda bear had to change its diet to survive. Therefore, today these animals traditionally feed on bamboo, since in times of scarcity, it was the only food they always had access to in the leafy forests of ancient China. Of course, because it feeds mainly on vegetables, the panda bear need to eat large amounts of bamboo daily. As we said, this is because your digestive system is not that of a herbivore, which means that it doesn't assimilate nutrients like a pure herbivore would. That's why an adult panda bear must consume exorbitant amounts of bamboo, such as the 20 kilograms of bamboo that they ingest daily.
To learn more about panda bear feeding, don't miss this article.
panda bear habits
To continue with the description of the panda bear, let's now talk about its daily habits. The panda bear is an animal that perform your daily activity in two moments, at sunrise and sunset. The rest of his day is quite sedentary, and he just eats and hides in the woods where he lives. You can spend between 12 and 14 hours a day just eating, spending even more time on this task than you spend sleeping.
Living in areas with a subtropical climate, the panda bear does not hibernate like other bears, for example, the brown bear, although it adapts to the climate according to the time of year. Also, as it does not hibernate, it has to migrate to cooler areas to feed, as the shoots and plants it feeds on disappear in the frost and snow.
the panda bear used to be lonely and independent, although he establishes relationships with his peers, being quite friendly as long as one does not intrude on the other's territory. Regarding the territory, the panda bear marks the area it considers its own with scratches on the bark of the trees, with urine and also with feces, so that when another panda sees or smells these signs, it can be alerted and leave that territory to avoid confrontations .
panda bear reproduction
The breeding season of the panda bear only lasts between 1 and 5 days, takes place once a year and usually between March and May, depending on weather and resource availability. That's why mating can be difficult, and if the male and female can't find each other in that short period of time, they'll have to wait another full year before they can reproduce again.
When the female is in heat, several things can happen. If, for example, no male finds her, the heat will simply end, and only the following year will she have the opportunity to reproduce again. The opposite can also happen, that is, more than one male can find the same female. In this case, the males would face each other, and the winner would copulate with the female after spending a few days living with her. Another relevant factor is the age of each of the pandas. If it's too unequal, copulation will likely not occur, as well as if the couple doesn't get along or fight. In this way, the panda bear procession is complex. For this reason, and for the short duration of its breeding season, it is not easy to repopulate the species.
Once copulation has been successful and the pregnancy has developed without major inconvenience, panda chicks will be born in about 100-160 days, depending on the time of implantation of the ovum and embryonic development. Thus, during the months of August or September, a litter of two or three panda cubs would be born, each weighing approximately between 90 and 130 grams. Panda cubs take about seven weeks to open their eyes. Until that moment, the mother will always remain with them, never leaving her shelter, not even to feed.
Only when they open their eyes will the devoted mother go out to regain her strength, consuming large amounts of food. All this information about the panda bear for children and adults allows us to see the factors that threaten the species and the reasons why it is in danger of extinction.
Curiosities
- Did you know that when panda bears are born they have a pink skin with white fur? Black spots appear as they develop.
- A panda bear can live an average of 20 years.