Giant Pandas

By: Pravin S. Bhullar

Natural habitat and environment

Wild pandas live only

in, mountainous regions in central China. These high bamboo forests are cool and wet-just as pandas like it. They may climb as high as

13,000 feet to feed on

higher slopes in the summer season.

Food

photograph by: Michael N

ichols

The giant panda has an insatiable appetite for bamboo. A typical animal eats half the day a full 12 hours out of every 24 and relieves itself dozens of times a day. It takes 28 pounds of bamboo to satisfy a giant panda’s daily dietary needs and it hungrily plucks the stalks with elongated wrist bones that function like thumbs. Pandas will sometimes eat birds or rodents as well.

Fast

Fac

ts

-Type: M

ammal

-Diet: O

mnivore

-Average life sp

an in w

ild: 2

0

years

Size:4-5 fe

et(136kg)

Protection st

atus :

Endangered

Size re

lative to

a 6-ft man

Protecting

Giant

Pandas

We work towards and advocate

for:

-increasing the area of panda habitat

under legal protection

-creating green corridors t

o link iso

lated

pandas

-patrolling against p

oaching, illegal

logging, and encroachment

-building local capacities fo

r nature

reserve management

-continued research and monitoring

There is a very im

portant federation

called WWF. It has b

een helping with the

Chinese government’s National

Conservation Program for the giant panda

and its habitat. T

hanks to this p

rogram,

panda reserves now cover m

ore than 3.8

million acres o

f forest.

Relationship with humans

The giant panda has been admired by people for hundreds of years but more for their beautiful black and white pelts in the past. Since their discovery by the western world and the realisation of their rareness in the wild, Giant pandas have become one of the most well-known of the world’s largest animals with increasing projects and efforts being put in place to try and save them for extinction. They have however been drastically affected by increasing human activity in their native habitats which has ultimately led to vast population declines and the isolation of the remaining populations. Despite their seemingly cuddly appearance though, the giant panda species of bear and although attacks on humans are rare, it is not unheard of for harm to be caused to people who attempt to enter captive enclosures.

How many are

left?

Drag picture to placeholder or click icon to add

One estimate shows that there are about 1,590

individuals living in the wild, while a 2006 study

via DNA analysis estimated that this figure could

be as high as 2,000-3,000. Some reports also

show that the number of Giant Pandas in the wild

may be on rise.

Bibliography

I went to Wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_pandas_there_in_the_wild, A-Zanimals.com/animals/giant-panda-bear/, animals.geographic.com/animals/mammals/giant-panda/, worldwildlife.org/species/giant-panda, kidcyber.com.au/topics/panda.htm

Thank you for watching and that was my presentation!