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Let's learn about pandas.
Famous and beloved around the world for their distinctive black and white fur and calm,
lazy manner, giant pandas - usually just called 'pandas' or 'panda bears' - symbolize the
animals that are in danger of vanishing from our planet.
Pandas are mammals, which means they are warm-blooded, have fur, and feed their babies milk.
They belong to the bear family, but pandas are so different from other species of bears
that scientists argued for a long time about whether they were actually bears at all!
Recent testing has proved that pandas really are bears, although there are some important
differences between pandas and other types of bears.
For example, pandas cannot roar like other bears do.
Instead they growl, huff, bark, and even make sounds like sheep.
Pandas are native to the mountains of southwest China, where they live in bamboo forests.
Bamboo is very important to pandas: between 95 and 99 percent of the food they eat is
bamboo!
Unfortunately, bamboo is low in nutrients and pandas are not very good at digesting
it, so they have to spend all day eating bamboo - usually at least 12 hours, in which they
consume up to 40 pounds or 18 kilograms of it.
They use a special bone in their wrist that sticks out a little like a thumb to grasp
the bamboo.
You may be surprised to learn that pandas will also sometimes eat other foods, including
grass, fruit, eggs, insects, and even rodents.
Pandas are solitary animals living mostly alone in the wild except when mating or caring
for a cub.
Adult pandas may reach a size of 3 feet or about 90 centimeters at the shoulder and a
length of 6 feet or 1.8 meters.
Males can weigh up to about 250 pounds or 114 kilograms, and females are somewhat smaller.
When cubs are born they are tiny compared to their mother!
A newborn panda weighs only about 3 1/2 ounces or 100 grams with a length of 7 inches or
18 centimeters.
At birth, the cubs are pink, blind, and nearly hairless, but soon they develop the black
and white pattern that will mark them the rest of their lives.
Once, giant pandas were hunted for their fur, but today pandas are protected.
They are still in danger, however, because their bamboo forest habitats are being cut
down and used for building and farming.
Without enough forest to live in, the pandas cannot survive.
Fortunately, many people want to save the panda from extinction and are working hard
to protect them and their habitats.
In the 1970s only 1,000 pandas were found to be living in the wild and they were declared
an endangered species in the 1980s.
Through conservation efforts and breeding programs, the panda population has nearly
doubled, and in 2016 pandas were declared no longer endangered.
They remain vulnerable, however, and if they and their habitats are not carefully protected,
pandas could still vanish from our world forever.
I hope you enjoyed learning about giant pandas today.
Goodbye till next time!