How many years do pandas live in the wild? Giant panda or bamboo bear

Where do pandas live? Surely many will answer: of course, in China. But China is a huge country, and seeing a panda there is far from easy.

The places where pandas live are primarily due to the fact that pandas, although classified as predators, are actually herbivores. In addition, they do not eat any plant food, but only one plant - bamboo.

Of the several hundred species of bamboo, the panda consumes only a few, which grow exactly where pandas live.

A very rare animal that many people have never seen with their own eyes, except perhaps on a TV screen or on the Internet. And this is not surprising, because there are now just over one and a half thousand pandas left on earth, and for most it is simply impossible to get to those places where pandas live in natural conditions. While other rare animals can be seen in zoos, you can only see the panda in a few, the largest zoos in the world. And all this is due to the fact that the panda is not an ordinary animal, it is a predator that eats bamboo and does not recognize other food. For unknown reasons, many centuries ago pandas switched to plant foods. Why exactly bamboo is difficult to answer, but most likely it was bamboo that was more accessible to pandas in their places of residence. And although bamboo is a subtropical plant found on many continents, it is in southeast Asia that it is most widespread and these are exactly the places where pandas live.

What continent does the panda live on?

The giant panda is a fairly large animal, growing up to 150 kg. Although in appearance it resembles a real bear, being a herbivore, in general it is a rather peaceful animal. For this reason, the panda is very careful and chooses hard-to-reach places to live. But the panda constantly needs a lot of food, and since its main food is bamboo, the giant panda’s permanent habitat is bamboo forests on the slopes of the mountains.

Currently, the panda lives only on the mainland Eurasia.

One of the most extensive areas where bamboo grows is the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau in southwest China. These are the provinces of China: Qinghai, Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Guizhou and part of the Tibet Autonomous Region. These places are chosen by these bamboo bears and live here for hundreds and thousands of years. This region of central China, with large areas of bamboo forests, is the only habitat of the giant panda in the world.

China's population is constantly growing, and at such a pace that the Chinese need new territories. Over the past half century, the population has increased so much that these inaccessible regions where pandas live have begun to be developed. More or less flat areas in these provinces began to be cleared, bamboo forests were cut down, and the freed land was turned into fields, towns and cities; forests in mountainous areas were cut down.

In China, bamboo has long been used as a material for construction, furniture and household utensils, which were used mainly by local residents. In places where bamboo grows, work was constantly carried out to harvest bamboo and, despite the fact that bamboo grows very quickly, bamboo forests did not have time to recover and their areas were catastrophically reduced. And for a normal existence, only one pair of pandas needs an area of about three thousand hectares of bamboo forest.

With the advent of nanotechnology, new materials began to be produced from bamboo: bamboo laminate, finishing materials, filler, textiles, which have gained recognition throughout the world as natural and non-allergenic substitutes for once popular synthetic ones. This increased the demand for bamboo, and a bamboo harvesting boom began in China. The bamboo thickets began to disappear before our eyes and the panda's living space began to shrink catastrophically. Pandas living in their natural environment began to move higher into the mountains and further from people, their numbers began to rapidly decrease.

To preserve the numbers of this rare animal, the Chinese government began to take effective measures. In 1998, a law was passed to stop deforestation and create nature reserves and national parks. True, this is not a single area, but consists of separate enclaves, and sometimes problems arise due to the fact that in some reserves there is a decrease in the growth of bamboo, and the pandas living there experience a lack of food, but nevertheless it produced results. The number of pandas began to increase, albeit gradually. In addition, protecting forests saves China's ecosystem from destruction. Thus, at the sources of the Yangtze River, one of the most important Chinese waterways, the quality of water has significantly increased, and the creation of eco-tourism has become a good source of income for the population living in the mountains, who previously made money from harvesting bamboo.

Where else does the panda live?

China is the only country in the world where the panda lives, its unique national symbol, along with the Great Wall of China. The black and white panda no longer lives in natural conditions in any country. And in China you can see a bamboo bear in almost only one place. After the largest panda sanctuary, Wolong Panda Sanctuary, in Sichuan province, was badly damaged by an earthquake in 2008, the bulk of the pandas were moved to a panda breeding research center near Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan. Over time, this center in the Bifengxia area of Ya'an town turned into the world's largest panda zoo.

This center has all the conditions for living and breeding of these animals. Pandas are not kept in enclosures, as is usually the case in zoos, but almost in natural conditions in large areas where special structures made of logs have been built where pandas can have fun. The center has special services: a kind of “kindergarten” for children, a hospital, a laboratory, a science center and a museum. Pandas are fed cut bamboo harvested from the mountains and various nutritional supplements. Today, this center is home to the largest population of pandas in the world.

Of course, you can see a panda live without traveling to China. Since the panda is a very interesting animal, people have long tried to catch them and keep them in zoos, although this was quite a difficult task. In 1959, there were only 7 pandas in zoos around the world, 5 of which were in Beijing Zoo and one each in Moscow Zoo and the Zoological Society of London Zoo. Now they are in many zoos around the world.

Pandas in zoos

For a very large fee, the Chinese lease pandas to famous zoos.

Schönbrunn Zoo in Austria

Atlanta Zoo in the USA

Adelaide Zoo in Australia

Madrid Zoo in Spain

Edinburgh Zoo in the UK; River Safari in Singapore

Memphis Zoo in the USA; Ocean Park in Hong Kong

San Diego Zoo in the USA; Smithsonian National Zoo in the USA

Zoo in Berlin in Germany

Zoo in Chiang Mai, Thailand

Taipei Zoo in Taiwan

Ueno Zoo in Japan

Toronto Zoo, Canada

Beauval Zoo in France; Mexico City Zoo in Mexico

Shirahama amusement park in Japan

There are no pandas in Russian zoos now, but in the fifties of the last century there were pandas in the Moscow Zoo. The first panda came to Russia in 1955. According to more reliable sources, it was a fairly young individual, a male, and at that time he weighed only 20 kg, that is, he was very young. According to customs in China, each panda has a name, ours was called Pin Pin. They created quite decent conditions for him, but there were problems with food. Bamboo does not grow in the Moscow region; it had to be delivered by plane from Abkhazia, so in addition to bamboo, he was accustomed to local food. Per day, Pin-Pin received: 500 bamboo shoots with leaves, 2 kg of oatmeal or rice porridge with milk, 2 eggs, 400 grams of fruit juice, 3-4 carrots, tea with sugar and birch or willow branches. Pin Pin lived until 1961 and died at the age of 6 years. Probably the cause of his early death was improper living conditions and feeding; he ate a lot and moved little; in the spring of 1960 his weight reached 185 kilograms.

In 1959, they purchased another An-An panda and wanted to create a pair, but it turned out to be also a male. An An was also fed a little bamboo, but his main food was: porridge, fruits, vegetables, sweet tea, and instead of bamboo, birch, willow and linden brooms. Oddly enough, he got used to this food and grew quite normally. Its weight reached more than 150 kg, and its length was about 1.5 meters. He lived until 1972 and died at the age of 15.

Zoologists have repeatedly tried to obtain offspring in captivity. And Chinese specialists have begun to succeed. They decided to do this in Europe as well. There was a female panda at the Zoological Society of London Zoo named Chi-Chi. In 1966, the leadership of the Zoological Society of London suggested that the Moscow Zoo try to connect the female Chi-Chi with the male An-An. The English panda was brought to Moscow by plane and tried to be brought together with An-An. But friendship did not work out. Moreover, both pandas showed great aggression towards each other, started real fights with each other, and had to be separated, sometimes even with the help of fire hoses and gun shots. Six months were fruitless and Chi-Chi was taken back to London. In 1968, they tried to repeat the experiment, this time An-An was taken to London, where he spent six months, but also to no avail, the pandas could not find a common language.

After this, Russians were able to see live pandas only in 2001, when, during the Beijing Culture Days in Moscow, two pandas were brought to the Moscow Zoo. For this purpose, a special agreement was concluded between the parties, which stipulated all aspects of the delivery and maintenance of pandas. They were accompanied by Chinese specialists, and insurance was taken out for a huge amount just in case. The pandas, four-year-old male Ben-Ben and nine-year-old female Wen-Wen, stayed at the Moscow Zoo for only two months. There were twice as many visitors to the Moscow Zoo these days as usual, and on Sunday it was almost impossible to get there at all. By the way, both pandas that visited Russia were born in the Beijing Zoo. Their names are also not arbitrary: the 9-year-old female panda Wen-Wen received her name in honor of the director of the zoo, Comrade Wen, and the male Ben-Ben, which means Bull in Chinese, was named so because he was born in the year of the Ox. They were kept in different enclosures.

Now a special “China” pavilion is being built at the Moscow Zoo, in which, as the press promises, black-and-white and red pandas from Chengdu will live. It has not yet been announced under what conditions the pandas will be transferred, but in any case, soon Muscovites and guests of the capital will be able to see these amazing animals with their own eyes.

The giant panda is a mammal from the same family as bears, although for a long time zoologists placed it either in the raccoon family or in its own special family. Pandas feed mainly on young, thin shoots of bamboo and therefore live only where there is a lot of bamboo growing. It is no coincidence that the panda is called the “bamboo bear.” Giant pandas live only in the mountain forests of several western provinces of China (Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu). Previously, it also lived in mountain bamboo forests in Indochina and on the island of Kalimantan, but its habitat is shrinking due to deforestation and periodic death of bamboo thickets after mass flowering.

Bamboo blooms rarely: once every 10, or even 100 years, depending on the species. In this case, they immediately bloom, form seeds, and then all the plants die off over a large area. It takes bamboo seeds at least a year to take root and sprout, and it takes at least 20 years for a new thicket to grow in the place of a extinct forest. So pandas are forced to look for new thickets where they can feed themselves. Judging by satellite images, the giant panda's natural habitat has been reduced by half over the past 15 years.

Giant pandas are nocturnal animals. Having settled somewhere in the bamboo thickets, the animal breaks off young plants with its front paws and methodically eats leaves, shoots and stems. During the day, pandas sleep somewhere in a secluded place among the rocks or in the hollow of a tree.

In the past, poachers killed these animals for their beautiful skins, but now pandas are under the strictest protection of the law. In China, the giant panda is declared a national treasure. The panda is a very secretive animal, and therefore scientists still know very little about its habits and way of life. For the first time, naturalists observed a living panda in nature only in 1913.

Today, according to scientists, only approx. 1,600 pandas is too few to consider the species safe from extinction. Pandas are kept in many zoos around the world - there they live longer than in the wild. The oldest panda in the zoo was 34 years old. Scientists are making attempts to breed pandas in captivity, but the animals form married couples very reluctantly. And even if the cub is born, it is difficult to raise it: the bear cub is born very tiny. A baby panda weighs no more than 100 grams.

Where did the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs fall?

Probably everyone has seen this animal at least once in their life. On TV or in cyberspace, at the zoo or on the pages of popular science magazines. And for many modern children, the panda copanda from the famous anime cartoon is almost the most favorite character.

Have you ever wondered where the panda lives, what the bear’s habitat is like, what he prefers to eat, and how long the bear bears her offspring? No?

Then I suggest we do it together.

general information

First of all, I’ll immediately note that the type of animals that we are used to calling pandas, and they will be discussed in this article, are called giant pandas in science. Why? Yes, because, probably, for some it will be a discovery, there is also one that is much smaller, and in its physique and behavior is more reminiscent of a fox or raccoon than a bear.

So, which is also often called a bamboo bear, belongs to mammals from the bear family. However, despite its size, according to some characteristics, including its peculiar black and white coloring, the animal could well be compared with raccoons. Apparently, this is why it took scientists so long to classify the creature, once discovered in the forests of central Tibet and Sichuan.

The Chinese even came up with a different name for him. In the Middle Kingdom, it is called the cat bear and is loved so much that, starting from the second half of the 20th century, the panda bear has become a revered emblem and symbol of a huge and densely populated country.

Where does the panda live? Habitat Features

These are fairly common only in the mountainous regions of central and southern China. These areas are densely covered with wet and cold forests, which is an ideal environment for the growth of bamboo, the favorite delicacy of the bear-cat.

Their habitat can be considered an area of approximately 30 thousand sq. km. Growing up, each individual gradually acquires its own territory, marking it with marks on the trees. In general, we can say that pandas are quite isolated mammals, leading a predominantly solitary lifestyle. They rarely invade the domains of their relatives.

Night is their time! It is at dusk or in pitch darkness that they arrange real bamboo feasts for themselves. During the day they prefer to sleep, settling down in the hollow of a large tree or in a secluded place among the rocks.

It should also be noted that, like all bears, pandas can easily stand on their hind legs, examining the area, but they quickly get tired and still prefer to rest more often.

Where does the panda live? Interesting facts from the life of a bear

There are quite a lot of such facts, but I will list only those that, from my point of view, turned out to be the most interesting.

The panda prefers to eat all the time, of course, with the exception of the time intended for sleep.
The daily diet consists of a colossal amount of food, of which, however, more than 17% is rarely absorbed.
The version that these individuals feed exclusively on bamboo is erroneous. They do not disdain the roots they find, various forest root crops, tree bark, mushrooms, grass and flowers. In very rare cases, a panda may attack other mammals or diversify its diet with freshly caught fish. Honey extracted from the nests of wild bees is considered a special delicacy.
The pregnancy of a five-year-old panda that has reached puberty, less often an eight-year-old one, lasts from 95 to 160 days. As a rule, after this period, the female gives birth to one or two babies. However, the second one, one way or another, is doomed to death, because In most cases, mothers care only about their firstborn.

Interesting facts about animals. Where do pandas live?

The giant panda is a mammal from the same family as bears, although for a long time zoologists placed it either in the raccoon family or in their own special family. Pandas feed mainly on young, thin shoots of bamboo and therefore live only where there is a lot of bamboo growing. It is no coincidence that the panda is called the “bamboo bear”. Giant pandas live exclusively in the mountain forests of several western provinces of China (Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu). It also previously lived in mountain beech forests in Indochina and the Kalimantan Peninsula, but its range is shrinking due to deforestation and repeated death of beech thickets after mass flowering.

Reed blooms occasionally: once every 10, or even 100 years, depending on the species. With all this, they immediately bloom, form seeds, and then all the plants die off over a large area. It takes bamboo seeds more than a year to take root and sprout, and it takes more than 20 years for a new thicket to grow in the place of a extinct forest. So pandas are obliged to find new thickets where they can feed. Judging by satellite imagery, the giant panda's natural habitat has been reduced by half over the past 15 years.

Giant pandas are nocturnal animals. Having settled somewhere in the beech thickets, the animal breaks off young plants with its front paws and methodically eats leaves, shoots and trunks. During the day, pandas doze somewhere in a hidden place among the rocks or in the hollow of a tree.

In the past, poachers killed these animals for the sake of their beautiful skins, but now pandas are under the strictest protection of the law. In China, the giant panda is declared a state treasure. The panda is a very secretive animal, and therefore scientists still know very little about its habits and lifestyle. The first time naturalists observed a living panda in the wild was exclusively in 1913.

Now, according to scientists, only approx. lives in the wild, including 50 nature reserves. 1600 pandas is not enough to consider a species insured against extinction. Pandas are kept in almost all zoos in the world - there they live longer than in the wild. The oldest panda in the zoo was 34 years old. Scientists decide to try to achieve the reproduction of pandas in captivity, but the animals form married couples very reluctantly. And even if the cub is born, it is difficult to raise it: the cub is born completely tiny. The baby panda weighs less than 100 grams.

Fascinating fact about pandas

An adult panda weighs on average 100 kg and eats about 40 kg of bamboo once a day. The panda eats virtually continuously: the feast lasts from 10 to 14 hours! In the spring, the animal feasts on young shoots, in the summer it runs to the leaves, and in the winter it also eats bamboo roots.

The image of a giant panda serves as a symbol of the Global Fund for Nature (international designation - WWF).

Conservation status: Endangered species.
Listed in the Red Book of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The giant panda is a quiet creature with a distinctive black and white costume, widely adored around the world. The panda is also considered a national treasure in China. For WWF (World Wildlife Fund), the panda has a special meaning because it has been featured on their logo since the organization's founding in 1961.

The giant panda is considered a rare animal in China, and its population is limited to the provinces of Gansu, Sichuan, and Shanxi in the central part of the country. The total range covers 29.5 thousand km², but only 5.9 thousand km² is the habitat range of the giant panda.

Habitat

The giant panda lives in mixed coniferous, montane and broad-leaved forests where bamboo is present.

Description

In general, giant pandas have a round head, a stocky body and a short tail. The height at the shoulders is 65-70 cm. These animals are well known for their characteristic black and white markings. The limbs, eyes, ears and shoulders are black, while the rest is white. In some regions, the color black actually has a dark red tint. The dark markings around the eyes may be the reason for the popularity of these animals, giving them a naive, juvenile appearance. Enlarged shoulders and neck area along with reduced hindquarters create an ambling gait. The baculum (bone that forms in the connective tissue of the penis) is present in many other mammals. However, in other bears they are straight and pointing forward, while in pandas they are S-shaped and pointing backward.

Giant pandas have several skull bone joints. They have a large sagittal crest that is made wider and deeper by their powerful jaws. The molars and small molars are wider and flatter than those of other bears, which is why pandas have developed the ability to crush tough bamboo. A notable feature of these animals is the extra opposable finger on the hand, known as the “panda thumb.” This has caused much confusion in the past when classifying these bears. In fact, it is not a thumb, but a skin protrusion.

Reproduction

Female pandas become more active during the breeding season and use scent markings. A study conducted between sexually active females and inactive pandas suggests that scent markings relate to sexual activity. Males may compete for a female.

Mating occurs from March to May. The female's estrus lasts approximately 1-3 days. Females lose their previous activity during the period of estrus, become restless and lose their appetite. Most babies are born in late summer and early fall. Pregnancy lasts about 6 weeks. At birth, babies are blind and helpless, and their body is covered with a small layer of fur. The weight of newborns is 85-140 g.

After giving birth, the mother helps the baby lie down in a position comfortable for sucking. The cub can be attached to the mother about 14 times a day, lasting up to 30 minutes per feeding. The cubs open their eyes at 3 weeks of life, move independently at 3-4 months, and are weaned from mother's milk at approximately 46 weeks. The cub remains with its mother for up to 18 months. Giant pandas do not reproduce well in captivity.

When studying the behavior of giant pandas in captivity, it was found that in half of the cases twins are born. The mother, as a rule, gives preference to one of them, and the second soon dies.

Lifespan

One giant panda is known to have reached the age of 34 in captivity, but this is rare. The average lifespan of these animals is 26 years, and occasionally 30 years.

Behavior

Unlike many other bears, giant pandas do not hibernate. But they descend to lower altitudes during the winter. Giant pandas do not build permanent burrows, but rather take refuge in trees and caves. They are primarily terrestrial animals, but are also good climbers and swimmers. Giant pandas are mostly solitary except during breeding season. Panda mothers play with their cubs, not only to soothe the babies, but also for fun. Some mothers often wake up their cubs to play with them.

Diet

Giant pandas have a strict energy reserve. They move little and, as a rule, obtain food while moving. Giant pandas can spend 10-12 hours a day eating. Bamboo is the pandas' main source of nutrition, but the animal only gets about 17% of its nutrients from the leaves and stems. Giant pandas are well known for their upright feeding posture, which allows their front legs to freely handle bamboo stalks. An extra finger on a panda's hand helps it tear bamboo. The walls of the panda's stomach are extremely muscular, thanks to which woody food is digested, and the intestines are covered with a thick layer of mucus, which protects against splinters.

Their diet consists of: bamboo stems and shoots, fruits, plants, small mammals, fish and insects.

Threats

The black and white coat of giant pandas may have served as protection against predators in the past when pandas were exposed to predation pressure. The black and white pattern gives them a zebra-like appearance. Additionally, in the past, when these pandas lived in snowy regions, the white color may have helped these bears hide in the surrounding area. However, today pandas live in almost snow-free areas. Fortunately, today there are no predators that threaten pandas.

Role in the ecosystem

The giant panda population is closely related to bamboo abundance and vice versa. Pandas help distribute bamboo seeds throughout the surrounding area. However, pandas significantly reduce the amount of bamboo, which makes it difficult for themselves to find food. Protected panda habitats will help preserve natural habitats.

Economic value for humans: Positive

Giant pandas have been hunted for their fur. In recent years the hide has been seen as a valuable sleeping mat; it is convenient, but is also believed to have supernatural protection against ghosts and help predict the future through dreams. Panda skin is highly prized in Japan, with prices reaching around $100. Giant pandas are also popular in zoos and attract many people.

Economic significance for humans: Negative

There is no real evidence that giant pandas have a negative impact, primarily due to their rarity. Pandas occupy areas that could be considered valuable areas for agriculture, but the presence of pandas, and their economic impact on tourism and ecosystem conservation, is likely to outweigh any negative impacts.