Tey can only be found in the southwest mountains of China. This mammal is a relative to the bears. The giant pandas are white with black ears. muzzles, legs, and shoulders. They also have black around their eyes. About 99 percent of the panda’s diet consists of bamboo shoots. stem and leaves. They find a spot surrounded by bamboo and eat for 10 to 16 hours a day, taking naps between meals. The panda’s digestive system is not very efficient. Bamboo does not give very much nourishment.
For these reasons, the panda must eat 10 to 16 hours a day. They also like to snack on roots, grass, flowers, vines, fish and honey. The pandas have five fingers plus a thumb on each front paw. The thumb helps to hold and peel the bamboo. Pandas are solitary, which means they like to be by themselves. Pandas only live with each other when mating or when a mother is raising her cub.
The giant pandas are an endangered species, which means that they might one day become extinct.
Scientists believe there are only about 1,500 pandas left in the wild. In the 1940s, the Chinese government declared the great panda a “national treasures” and began conservation efforts to give them safe areas in their natural habitat. In the 1960s China’s State Council called on provinces to set aside land for pandas protection. Sichuan province in southwestern China created around 40 reserves to protect the panda. The World Wildlife Federation (WWF) selected the giant panda to be their symbol in 1962.
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The WWF works to save endangered species from extinction. Wolong National Nature Reserve was established in 1963.
Wolong National Nature Reserve is located in southwest of Wenchuan County of Sichuan province in China. It is 494,200 acres of protected forest and is the largest core part of Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries. It is one of seven complexes of major panda research. According to Sichuandiscovery.com, Wolong National Nature Reserve is a natural park where the Tibetan Plateau transits into Sichuan Basin, and its highest peak is the southwestern Siguniang Mountain which is the second-highest peak in Sichuan. Wolong National Nature Reserve has high terrain and humid climate which provides favorable conditions for bamboo to grow, and this is an ideal place for pandas to survive and reproduce.
There are over 100 pandas here, accounting for about 10% of the total in China. In 1978, the first Giant Panda observation station was established in the Reserve. In 1980, the Giant Panda Protection and Research Center of China was established in Wolong by cooperation with World Wildlife Federation. In 1983, the Reserve joined ‘Man and Biosphere Program. The main target is to protect such valuable and rare animals as pandas and the forest ecosystems. At the research center, scientists learned important details of the panda’s life. They observed their behavior, diet, and reproduction. The most important reason for captivity is to breed them. Scientists set up breeding stations to help pandas mate. Females are only fertile for two days per year. After successful breeding, the scientist will artificially inseminate her also. Four months later the scientist can perform an ultrasound to see if the panda is pregnant. If pregnant, she will be moved to a maternity wing where they are monitored at all times. A panda can give birth three to six months later. They favor the warmest days in August. In the wild, a mother can give birth to twins.
She usually favors the stronger one and the other usually dies. But at Wolong Reserve, every cub counts. The twins receive constant care and the survival rate is 95%. After trial and error, the scientist learned about twin swapping. The keepers would switch the twins out every two days so they both receive equal time with mom. This gives each twin a chance to make it to maturity. This continues until six months of age. Then they graduate to the next stage, panda kindergarten. They learn with their siblings, cousins and keeper how to be pandas. They are called “VIP”, very important pandas. They are bred and raised in captivity.
A pair of twins born in 2001, Xiang Xiang and Fu Fu, determined Xiang Xiang would be the first panda to enter the reintroduction program. He entered the wild training enclosure on July 8, 2003. Xiang Xiang went through almost 3 years of training in increasingly larger semi-wild enclosures. On April 29, 2006, Xiang Xiang was formally introduced into the wild. Location tracking and monitoring were implemented and related research was conducted. Xiang Xiang was successful for almost a year: he built a den, was foraging for food, and made progress. Unfortunately, Xiang Xiang was found dead on February 19, 2007. Xiang Xiang was thought to have been badly beaten by another panda for territory, food or a mate.
He was born and raised in captivity with human contact. These giant pandas are unable to return to the wild. They do not have the skills to survive. But their true home is in the wild. In May 2008, a major earthquake struck the Sichuan province, destroying much of the Panda Research Center. Several pandas were injured and one died. All the pandas had to be relocated while reconstruction began. The new Panda Research Center open 2012 six mile away from the destroyed one. Wolong panda base began looking into ways on how to return pandas to the wild. The destroyed base was isolated and uninhabited. Parts of the base were perfect and brought back to life for the new return to the wild reintroduction training. On July 20, 2010, four pregnant pandas were the official beginning of the 2nd Phase of the Captive Giant Panda Wild Training Project.
On August 3, 2010, Tao Tao a male cub was born. This was the first cub delivered in Wolong after the earthquake on May 12, 2008. He was also the first cub ever delivered in a wild training base without any assistance from humans. In these new centers, pandas have no human contact. They stay two years with their mothers. The cub is taught by the panda mom how to live in the wild. They must find food water and shelter while researchers monitor them. When humans must intervene, they dress and smell like a panda. By age two they can climb trees and spend hours maybe days without their mom. The cub is ready for the next stage in reintroduction training into the wild. For the third phase of training, they are both moved miles further up the mountain to the next very large naturally wild enclosed habit. This part of the mountains are too steep for farming or lodging so the natural bamboo survive. For the next five months, they must survive on their own. They will eat the bamboo and drink the water they find naturally. They will see other wildlife that live in that environment. After five months, the cub must pass one final test.
The young panda must encounter a dummy predator such as a leopard or jackal. The dummy is made to look, smell and sound like the real predator. The young cub must identify it as a predator and run away. Then the two-year-old cub will be sedated and given a medical exam. A tracking device will be placed. On October 11, 2012, Tao Tao was the first cub released into the wild. According to gaintpandaglobal.com, he was recaptured on December 30, 2017, for a health check and appeared to be doing well. Zhang Xiang was born on August 20, 2011, and was reintroduced in the wild on November 6, 2013. This female panda is being tracked and monitored with the aid of a GPS collar. Zhang Xiang is doing well in the wild. Xue Xue was released on October 14, 2014. Unfortunately, Xue Xue fell ill likely due to a bite from a bamboo rat, and died about a month after her release. The next panda scheduled for release in 2014, Xin Yuan, died prior to her release, while in the final stages of the training program.
Hua Jiao was born July 6, 2013, and reintroduced in the wild on November 19, 2015. Hua Yan was born on August 14, 2013, and reintroduced in the wild on October 20, 2016. Zhang Meng was born July 7, 2014, was reintroduced in the wild on October 20, 2016. Ying Xue was born July 12, 2015 and was reintroduced in the wild on November 23, 2017. Ba Xi was born July 26, 2015, and reintroduced in the wild on November 23, 2017. There is no further information on these pandas. The selected giant pandas follow wild training and researchers study them from the fields of ecology, behavior, veterinary needs, feeding management, and the captive individuals’ adaptability in the wild. The program has undergone many phases and changes as knowledge among scientists working with the program have increased.
Loss of natural habitat is one of the biggest challenges facing the giant panda reintroduction program. Whole communities are being relocated and the land is planted with bamboo. China’s government is working with Wolong National Nature Reserve for the relocation and education. China has laws in place to protect pandas from hunters. But some hunters will risk great penalties in order to kill a panda and sell its fur. The Chinese call the giant pandas a national treasure. But the giant panda needs to be the world’s treasure. Captive breeding and research, land protection, education, and law enforcement are costly. The panda is safe for now, but the future of the giant panda is truly uncertain.
The Giant Panda Is One Of The Most Endangered Wild Rare Animals. (2021, Dec 05). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/the-giant-panda-is-one-of-the-most-endangered-wild-rare-animals/
