Giant panda

The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), also called the panda bear or just panda, is a bear species that lives only in China. It has a white coat with black patches around its eyes, ears, legs, and shoulders. Its body is round and chubby. Adults weigh 100 to 115 kg (220 to 254 lb) and are usually 1.2 to 1.9 m (3 ft 11 in to 6 ft 3 in) long. Males are usually 10 to 20% bigger than females. A thumb on its front paw helps it hold bamboo while it eats. It has large molar teeth and wide temporal fossae, which help it chew its food. It can digest starch, but it mostly eats herbivorous food, almost only bamboo and bamboo shoots.

The giant panda lives only in six montane areas in a few Chinese provinces, in mountains up to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) high. It usually lives alone and only comes together during mating season. It relies on olfactory communication, which means it uses scent marks as chemical signals, along with landmarks like rocks or trees. Mothers raise their cubs for an average of 18 to 24 months. The oldest known giant panda lived to be 38 years old.

Farming, deforestation, and building new roads and buildings have pushed the giant panda out of the lowland areas where it once lived. A national survey from 2011 to 2014, published in 2015, found that the wild population had grown to 1,864 pandas, not counting young cubs. Based on this, scientists estimated about 2,060 adult pandas in total as of 2018. Since 2016, the giant panda has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, which means it is at risk of disappearing. In July 2021, Chinese authorities also classified it as vulnerable. It is a conservation-reliant species, which means it needs human protection to survive. By 2007, 239 giant pandas lived in captivity in China, and another 27 lived in other countries.

The giant panda has often been a national symbol of China. It has appeared on Chinese Gold Panda coins since 1982 and Chinese Silver Panda coins since 1983. It was also one of the five Fuwa mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Etymology

The English word panda came from French, but no one has found a clear explanation for where the French word came from. The closest idea is the Nepali word ponya. It may refer to a special wrist bone of the red panda, an animal that lives in Nepal. In many older sources, "panda" or "common panda" meant the red panda. The red panda was described about 40 years earlier, and at that time it was the only animal known as a panda. The scientific name Ailuropoda melanoleuca means "black and white cat-foot."

Since the earliest Chinese writings, the Chinese language has given the bear many names. These include mò, an ancient Chinese name for the giant panda, huāxióng ("spotted bear"), and zhúxióng ("bamboo bear"). Today the most popular names are dàxióngmāo ("giant bear cat") and xióngmāo ("bear cat"). Like the English word "panda," xióngmāo was first used only for the red panda. So dàxióngmāo and xiǎoxióngmāo ("little bear cat") were created to tell the two animals apart. In Taiwan, another popular name is dàmāoxióng ("giant cat bear"), though many encyclopedias there still use the "bear cat" name. This name became popular in 1988, when a private zoo in Tainan painted a sun bear black and white. This event is known as the Tainan fake panda incident.

Taxonomy

For many decades, scientists argued about which group the giant panda belongs to, because it has features of both bears and raccoons. In 1985, molecular studies showed that the giant panda is a true bear and belongs to the bear family, Ursidae. These studies suggest that it split off about 19 million years ago from its common ancestor with the other bears. It is the most basal member of this family, which means it branched off earliest. It is about equally related to all other living bear species. Of the eight living bear species, the giant panda's line split off first.

Scientists recognize two subspecies. They are based on skull size, colour patterns, and population genetics. The nominate subspecies, A. m. melanoleuca, includes most giant pandas alive today. They live mainly in Sichuan and have the well-known black and white colours. The Qinling panda, A. m. qinlingensis, lives only in the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi, at heights of 1,300 to 3,000 m (4,300 to 9,800 ft). It has more brown and white colouring, and its skull is smaller, with larger molars. A detailed genetic study from 2012 confirmed that the Qinling population separated about 300,000 years ago. It also showed that the other pandas split into two groups about 2,800 years ago. One group is the Minshan and the other is the Qionglai-Daxiangling-Xiaoxiangling-Liangshan group.

Distribution and habitat

The giant panda is found only in China. It lives in small, separated groups in six mountain areas. Most live in Sichuan, with some in nearby Shaanxi and Gansu. Panda numbers have grown in places where their homes are protected. However, loss of habitat caused by people is still the biggest danger to them. Pandas are usually rare in areas with many large animals, such as domestic cattle, mostly because they avoid interspecific competition.

Pandas have been found at heights of 2,400 to 3,000 metres above sea level. They like places with plenty of bamboo. They usually live in old-growth forests, but they may also live in secondary forest. Long ago, giant pandas lived across Southeast Asia, from Myanmar to northern Vietnam. Changes in the climate during the Pleistocene and the growth of modern humans caused their habitat to shrink a great deal. Remains show that pandas lived in the Gaoligong Mountains of Yunnan Province as recently as 5,000 years ago. Heavy tree-cutting around the early Ming Dynasty may have removed them from that area. In 2001, scientists estimated that the panda's range had become about 99% smaller than it was thousands of years earlier.

Description

The giant panda has a body shape like other bears. Its ears, legs, shoulders, and the area around its eyes are black, and the rest of its coat is white. This coloring seems to act as camouflage in both winter and summer, because pandas do not hibernate. The white parts blend in with snow, and the black shoulders and legs hide the panda in shade. In the wild, the panda shows disruptive coloration when seen from far away. When seen up close, it relies more on blending in. Its thick, woolly coat keeps it warm in the cool forests where it lives.

The panda's skull shape is typical of durophagous carnivorans, which are animals that crush hard food. Over time, its skull has changed to have larger back teeth and more space for jaw muscles. One study measured a giant panda weighing 117.5 kg (259 lb). It had a bite force of 1298.9 Newton at its canine teeth and 1815.9 Newton at its carnassial teeth. Finite element analysis has found that pandas have the strongest bite compared to their body size among bears. The giant panda also has the largest masticatory muscles among bears. These muscles are at least twice as heavy as those of an American black bear or a polar bear with the same brain size. Adults are about 1.2 to 1.9 m (3 ft 11 in to 6 ft 3 in) long, including a tail of 10–15 cm. They stand 60 to 90 cm (24 to 35 in) tall at the shoulder. Males can weigh up to 160 kg (350 lb), while females are usually 10–20% smaller. The giant panda's paw has a digit similar to a thumb and five fingers. This thumb-like digit is really a changed sesamoid bone that helps the panda hold bamboo while it eats. Its tail is the second-longest in the bear family, after the sloth bear.

Ecology

Although the giant panda is classed as a carnivoran, about 99% of its diet is herbivorous, made up of bamboo. Its body still digests food like a carnivore's, so it gets little energy and protein from bamboo. Raw bamboo contains cyanide, a poison, but pandas have ways to protect themselves from it. Because bamboo gives so little energy, an adult panda eats 9 to 14 kg (20 to 31 lb) of bamboo shoots a day and may go to the toilet up to 40 times a day. Saving energy also means pandas tend to limit their social contact and avoid steep slopes.

Adult giant pandas have few natural enemies, but young cubs can be attacked by animals such as snow leopards. Giant pandas share parts of their home with other bamboo eaters, such as the takin, and they sometimes compete for food. Pandas can also catch diseases from other animals. A captive female panda once died from toxoplasmosis.

Behavior

Giant pandas spend most of their lives roaming and eating in the bamboo forests of the Qinling Mountains and in the hilly province of Sichuan. They live on land, so they are a terrestrial animal. Pandas usually live alone, and each adult has its own territory. They meet mainly during the short breeding season. After mating, the male leaves the female to raise the cub by herself. Pandas were once thought to be crepuscular, meaning active at dawn and dusk. They may actually have their own pattern, with activity in the morning, afternoon and midnight. Bamboo is not very nutritious, so pandas must eat often. They do not have major predators, so they can be active at any time of day. They communicate by sound and by smell, such as by spraying urine and marking trees with their claws. They rely mainly on spatial memory rather than visual memory. They do not hibernate, but they move to places with warmer temperatures. Pandas are often seen as gentle, and they have rarely attacked humans.

Giant pandas depend heavily on olfactory communication, which means using smell to communicate. They leave scent marks on rocks and trees. These marks share information, such as whether a female is ready to breed, the age and identity of the animal, and which animal is in charge of an area. Females release chemical signals through their urine, and these help males know when they are ready to breed. Males also leave signals that help females choose a mate. Pandas tend to avoid each other for most of the year, and their chemical signals help them avoid or find one another. Pandas usually reach breeding age between four and eight years old and may breed until about 20. The mating season is from March to May. A female goes into estrus for two or three days, once a year. Gestation lasts between 95 and 160 days. Twins are born in about half of pregnancies, but usually only one cub survives in the wild. A newborn cub is pink, blind and toothless, and it is very small compared to its mother. Cubs live with their mothers until they are 18 months to two years old.

In culture

Main article: Mo (Chinese zoology)

Long ago in China, people saw pandas as rare and special animals. The Empress Dowager Bo was buried with a panda skull in her tomb. The grandson of Emperor Taizong of Tang is said to have given Japan two pandas and a piece of panda skin as a sign of friendship. Unlike many other animals in Ancient China, pandas were rarely thought to have medical uses. A few uses were known. People in the Sichuan region used panda urine to help melt needles that had been accidentally swallowed. Panda pelts were also used to help with menstruation, as described in the Qin dynasty encyclopedia Erya. Some ancient books mention a creature called mo (貘), which some people believe was the giant panda. The dictionary Shuowen Jiezi (Eastern Han Dynasty) describes the mo as bear-like but yellow and black, while the older Erya calls it a "white leopard." The fierce legendary creature pixiu is also often linked to the giant panda. During the reign of the Yongle Emperor in the early 15th century, his relative from Kaifeng sent him a captured zouyu. Another zouyu was seen in Shandong. The zouyu is a legendary "righteous" animal that, like a qilin, only appears when a kind and sincere ruler is in charge.

See also: Category:Individual giant pandas

Giant pandas have been kept in zoos since the Western Han Dynasty in China. The writer Sima Xiangru noted that the panda was the most treasured animal in the emperor's garden in the capital Chang'an (now Xi'an). In the 1950s, pandas were again shown in China's zoos. Chi Chi at London Zoo became very popular. Her fame led the World Wildlife Fund to choose a panda as its symbol. Keeping pandas is expensive. A 2006 New York Times article explained that it costs five times more than keeping the next most expensive animal, an elephant. In the 1970s, China gave pandas as gifts to zoos in America and Japan. This was an important part of China's diplomacy and was among the first cultural exchanges between China and the West. This practice became known as "panda diplomacy." By 1984, pandas were no longer given as gifts. Instead, China loaned them to other countries for 10 years at a fee of up to US$1,000,000 per year. Any cubs born during the loan belong to China. Because of this, nearly all giant pandas in the world are owned by China. As of 2022, Xin Xin at the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City was the last living descendant of the gifted pandas. Since 1998, a WWF lawsuit has meant that the United States Fish and Wildlife Service only allows US zoos to bring in a giant panda if China spends more than half of the loan fee on conservation movement efforts for pandas and their habitat. In 2005, China offered a breeding pair to Taiwan, and the issue became linked to cross-Strait relations. A 2006 naming contest on the mainland gave the pandas the names Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, which mean "reunion" and hint at reunification. The offer was first turned down by Chen Shui-bian, then President of Taiwan. It was accepted after Ma Ying-jeou became president in 2008, and the pandas arrived in December 2006. In the 2020s, some "celebrity pandas" have gained a large online following, with fan accounts that follow their every move. At the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, some of these pandas draw crowds of visitors who wait in lines that last for hours.

Conservation

The giant panda is a vulnerable species, which means it is at risk. It is threatened by habitat destruction and habitat fragmentation, meaning its forest homes are being damaged and broken into pieces. Pandas also have very few babies, both in the wild and in captivity.

Today, pandas live in only a small area on the western edge of where they once lived. Long ago, their range covered southern and eastern China, northern Myanmar, and northern Vietnam.

Roads and towns built near panda homes can cause the population to drop. Diseases from pets and farm animals are another danger. Scientists estimate that by 2100, the panda's range could shrink by up to 100%, mainly because of climate change.

The giant panda is listed on CITES Appendix I. This means trade in its parts is banned, and it needs this protection to avoid extinction.

Long ago, local people hunted pandas. Later, foreigners hunted them too, after the animals became known in the West. From the 1930s, foreigners could not hunt them in China because of the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War. After the reform and opening up, people wanted panda skins, which led to illegal hunting for the black market. In 1963, the government set up Wolong National Nature Reserve to help the panda population, which was getting smaller.

Pandas are among the world's most loved and protected rare animals. They are one of the few animals whose natural home has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries, in southwestern Sichuan province, include seven natural reserves. They were added to the World Heritage List in 2006.

A 2015 study found that the giant panda can act as an umbrella species. Protecting its home also helps other endemic species in China, including 70% of the country's forest birds, 70% of mammals and 31% of amphibians.

In 2012, the Earthwatch Institute started a program called "On the Trail of Giant Panda" in Wolong. Volunteers helped captive pandas adjust to life in the wild.

In 2006, scientists thought the wild panda population might be about 1,000. A new method using DNA from giant panda droppings suggested it could be as large as 3,000.

In 2016, the species was changed from "endangered" to "vulnerable." The State Forestry Administration of the People's Republic of China said it would keep working to protect pandas rather than lower their protection.

In 2020, nearly 70 nature reserves were joined together to form the Giant Panda National Park. It covers 10,500 square miles, about three times the size of Yellowstone National Park, and includes the Wolong National Nature Reserve.

Small, separated groups can face mutation and genetic problems, so joining these areas helps. By 2020, the park had over 1,800 pandas, about 80 percent of China's total.

The park also helps other animals, such as the Siberian tiger, the snow leopard, the golden snub-nosed monkey, the red panda and the complex-toothed flying squirrel, in Sichuan Province.

In July 2021, Chinese authorities announced that giant pandas are no longer endangered in the wild. As of November 26, 2024, about 757 pandas lived in captivity and about 1,900 in the wild, for a total of approximately 2,657.