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Giant Panda: Jump To Navigation Jump To Search
Giant Panda: Jump To Navigation Jump To Search
Giant panda
Kong
Conservation status
Endangered (ESA) [2]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Genus: Ailuropoda
Binomial name
Ailuropoda melanoleuca
David, 1869[3]
Subspecies
†A. m. hastorni
A. m. melanoleuca
A. m. qinlingensis
Giant panda
"Panda" in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese
characters[4]
Traditional Chinese 熊貓
Simplified Chinese 熊猫
showTranscriptions
Traditional Chinese 貓熊
Simplified Chinese 猫熊
showTranscriptions
Contents
1Taxonomy
o 1.1Classification
o 1.2Etymology
o 1.3Subspecies
2Description
o 2.1Pathology
o 2.2Genomics
3Ecology
o 3.1Diet
o 3.2Predators
4Behavior
o 4.1Reproduction
5Human use and interaction
o 5.1Early references
o 5.2Western discovery
o 5.3Diplomacy
o 5.4Biofuel
o 5.5Conservation
o 5.6Zoos
o 5.7Population chart
o 5.8Wilson's disease diagnosis
6See also
7References
8External links
Taxonomy
Classification
For many decades, the precise taxonomic classification of the giant panda was under
debate because it shares characteristics with both bears and raccoons.
[19]
However, molecular studies indicate the giant panda is a true bear, part of the family
Ursidae.[6][20] These studies show it diverged about 19 million years ago from the common
ancestor of the Ursidae;[21] it is the most basal member of this family and equidistant from
all other extant bear species.[22][21] The giant panda has been referred to as a living fossil.
[23]
Etymology
The word panda was borrowed into English from French, but no conclusive explanation
of the origin of the French word panda has been found.[24] The closest candidate is
the Nepali word ponya, possibly referring to the adapted wrist bone of the red panda,
which is native to Nepal. The Western world originally applied this name to the red
panda.
Panda cubs
In many older sources, the name "panda" or "common panda" refers to the lesser-
known red panda,[25] thus necessitating the inclusion of "giant" and "lesser/red" prefixes
in front of the names. Even in 2013, the Encyclopædia Britannica still used "giant
panda" or "panda bear" for the bear,[26] and simply "panda" for the red panda,[27] despite
the popular usage of the word "panda" to refer to giant pandas.
Since the earliest collection of Chinese writings, the Chinese language has given the
bear 20 different names, such as huāxióng (花熊 "spotted bear") and zhúxióng (竹
熊 "bamboo bear").[28] The most popular names in China today are dàxióngmāo (大熊
貓 literally "giant bear cat"), or simply xióngmāo (熊貓 "bear cat"). The
name xióngmāo (熊貓 "bear cat") was originally used to describe the red panda (Ailurus
fulgens), but since the giant panda was thought to be closely related to the red
panda, dàxióngmāo (大熊貓) was named relatively.[28]
In Taiwan, another popular name for panda is the inverted dàmāoxióng (大貓熊 "giant
cat bear"), though many encyclopediae and dictionaries in Taiwan still use the "bear
cat" form as the correct name. Some linguists argue, in this construction, "bear" instead
of "cat" is the base noun, making this name more grammatically and logically correct,
which may have led to the popular choice despite official writings. [28] This name did not
gain its popularity until 1988, when a private zoo in Tainan painted a sun bear black and
white and created the Tainan fake panda incident.[29][30]
Subspecies
The Qinling panda has a light brown and white pattern
Two subspecies of giant panda have been recognized on the basis of distinct cranial
measurements, colour patterns, and population genetics.[31]
Description
The skeleton (left) and taxidermy model (right) of "Tong Tong", once bred in Ueno Zoo at the National Museum
of Nature and Science, Tokyo
The giant panda has luxuriant black-and-white fur. Adults measure around 1.2 to 1.9
metres (3 feet 11 inches to 6 feet 3 inches) long, including a tail of about 10–15 cm (4–
6 in), and 60 to 90 cm (24 to 35 in) tall at the shoulder.[35][36] Males can weigh up to 160 kg
(350 lb).[37] Females (generally 10–20% smaller than males)[38] can weigh as little as
70 kg (150 lb), but can also weigh up to 125 kg (276 lb).[11][35][39] The average weight for
adults is 100 to 115 kg (220 to 254 lb).[40]
The giant panda has a body shape typical of bears. It has black fur on its ears, eye
patches, muzzle, legs, arms and shoulders. The rest of the animal's coat is white.
Although scientists do not know why these unusual bears are black and white,
speculation suggests that the bold colouring provides effective camouflage in their
shade-dappled snowy and rocky habitat, [41] and that their eye patches might facilitate
them identifying one another.[42][43] The giant panda's thick, woolly coat keeps it warm in
the cool forests of its habitat.[41] The panda's skull shape is typical
of durophagous carnivorans. It has evolved from previous ancestors to exhibit larger
molars with increased complexity and expanded temporal fossa. [44][45] A 110.45 kg
(243.5 lb) giant panda has a 3D canine teeth bite force of 2603.47 newtons and bite
force quotient of 292.[citation needed] Another study had a 117.5 kg (259 lb) giant panda bite of
1298.9 newtons (BFQ 151.4) at canine teeth and 1815.9 newtons (BFQ 141.8) at
carnassial teeth.[46]
The giant panda's paw has a "thumb" and five fingers; the "thumb" – actually a
modified sesamoid bone – helps it to hold bamboo while eating.[47] Stephen Jay
Gould discusses this feature in his book of essays on evolution and biology, The
Panda's Thumb.
The giant panda's tail, measuring 10 to 15 cm (4 to 6 in), is the second-longest in the
bear family, behind the sloth bear.[38]
The giant panda typically lives around 20 years in the wild and up to 30 years
in captivity.[48] A female named Jia Jia was the oldest giant panda ever in captivity, born
in 1978 and died at an age of 38 on 16 October 2016. [49]
Pathology
A seven-year-old female named Jin Yi died in 2014 in a zoo in Zhengzhou, China, after
showing symptoms of gastroenteritis and respiratory disease. It was found that the
cause of death was toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by Toxoplasma gondii that infects
most warm-blooded animals, including humans.[50]
Genomics
The giant panda genome was sequenced in 2009 using Illumina dye sequencing.[51] Its
genome contains 20 pairs of autosomes and one pair of sex chromosomes.
Ecology
Diet
Behavior
The giant panda is a terrestrial animal and primarily spends its life roaming and feeding
in the bamboo forests of the Qinling Mountains and in the hilly province of Sichuan.
[72]
Giant pandas are generally solitary.[56] Each adult has a defined territory and a female
is not tolerant of other females in her range. Social encounters occur primarily during
the brief breeding season in which pandas in proximity to one another will gather. [73] After
mating, the male leaves the female alone to raise the cub. [74]
Pandas were thought to fall into the crepuscular category, those who are active twice a
day, at dawn and dusk; however, Jindong Zhang found that pandas may belong to a
category all of their own, with activity peaks in the morning, afternoon and midnight. Due
to their sheer size, they can be active at any time of the day. [75] Activity is highest in June
and decreases in late summer to autumn with an increase from November through the
following March.[76] Activity is also directly related to the amount of sunlight during colder
days.[76]
Pandas communicate through vocalisation and scent marking such as clawing trees
or spraying urine.[11] They are able to climb and take shelter in hollow trees or rock
crevices, but do not establish permanent dens. For this reason, pandas do
not hibernate, which is similar to other subtropical mammals, and will instead move to
elevations with warmer temperatures.[77] Pandas rely primarily on spatial memory rather
than visual memory.[78]
Though the panda is often assumed to be docile, it has been known to attack humans,
presumably out of irritation rather than aggression. [79][80][81]
Pandas have been known to cover themselves in horse manure to protect themselves
against cold temperatures.[82]
Reproduction
A giant panda cub. At birth, the giant panda typically weighs 100 to 200 grams (3+1⁄2 to 7 ounces) and
measures 15 to 17 centimeters (6 to 7 inches) long. [83]
Initially, the primary method of breeding giant pandas in captivity was by artificial
insemination, as they seemed to lose their interest in mating once they were captured.
[84]
This led some scientists to try extreme methods, such as showing them videos of
giant pandas mating[85] and giving the males sildenafil (commonly known as Viagra).
[86]
Only recently have researchers started having success with captive breeding
programs, and they have now determined giant pandas have comparable breeding to
some populations of the American black bear, a thriving bear species. The normal
reproductive rate is considered to be one young every two years. [16][72]
Giant pandas reach sexual maturity between the ages of four and eight, and may be
reproductive until age 20.[87] The mating season is between March and May, when a
female goes into estrus, which lasts for two or three days and only occurs once a year.
[88]
When mating, the female is in a crouching, head-down position as the male mounts
her from behind. Copulation time ranges from 30 seconds to five minutes, but the male
may mount her repeatedly to ensure successful fertilisation. The gestation period is
somewhere between 95 and 160 days - the variability is due to the fact that the fertilized
egg may linger in the reproductive system for awhile before implanting on the uterine
wall.[88]
Giant pandas give birth to twins in about half of pregnancies. [89] If twins are born, usually
only one survives in the wild. The mother will select the stronger of the cubs, and the
weaker cub will die due to starvation. The mother is thought to be unable to produce
enough milk for two cubs since she does not store fat. [90] The father has no part in
helping raise the cub.
When the cub is first born, it is pink, blind, and toothless, [91] weighing only 90 to 130 g
(3+1⁄4 to 4+1⁄2 oz), or about 1/800 of the mother's weight,[19] proportionally the smallest baby
of any placental mammal.[92] It nurses from its mother's breast six to 14 times a day for
up to 30 minutes at a time. For three to four hours, the mother may leave the den to
feed, which leaves the cub defenseless. One to two weeks after birth, the cub's skin
turns grey where its hair will eventually become black. Slight pink colour may appear on
the cub's fur, as a result of a chemical reaction between the fur and its mother's saliva.
A month after birth, the colour pattern of the cub's fur is fully developed. Its fur is very
soft and coarsens with age. The cub begins to crawl at 75 to 80 days; [19] mothers play
with their cubs by rolling and wrestling with them. The cubs can eat small quantities of
bamboo after six months,[93] though mother's milk remains the primary food source for
most of the first year. Giant panda cubs weigh 45 kg (100 pounds) at one year and live
with their mothers until they are 18 months to two years old. The interval between births
in the wild is generally two years.
In July 2009, Chinese scientists confirmed the birth of the first cub to be successfully
conceived through artificial insemination using frozen sperm. [94] The cub was born at
07:41 on 23 July that year in Sichuan as the third cub of You You, an 11-year-old.[94][95]
[96]
The technique for freezing the sperm in liquid nitrogen was first developed in 1980
and the first birth was hailed as a solution to the dwindling availability of giant panda
semen, which had led to inbreeding.[96][97] Panda semen, which can be frozen for
decades, could be shared between different zoos to save the species. [94][95] It is expected
that zoos in destinations such as San Diego in the United States and Mexico City will
now be able to provide their own semen to inseminate more giant pandas. [97] In August
2014, a rare birth of panda triplets was announced in China; it was the fourth of such
births ever reported.[98]
Attempts have also been made to reproduce giant pandas by interspecific
pregnancy where cloned panda embryos were implanted into the uterus of an animal of
another species. This has resulted in panda fetuses, but no live births. [99]
Diplomacy
Main article: Panda diplomacy
Gifts of giant pandas to American and Japanese zoos formed an important part of the
diplomacy of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the 1970s, as it marked some of
the first cultural exchanges between China and the West. This practice has been
termed "panda diplomacy".[110]
By 1984, however, pandas were no longer given as gifts. Instead, China began to offer
pandas to other nations only on 10-year loans, under terms including a fee of up to
US$1,000,000 per year and a provision that any cubs born during the loan are the
property of China. Since 1998, because of a WWF lawsuit, the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service only allows a US zoo to import a panda if the zoo can ensure that China
will channel more than half of its loan fee into conservation efforts for the giant panda
and its habitat.
In May 2005, China offered a breeding pair to Taiwan. The issue became embroiled
in cross-Strait relations – both over the underlying symbolism, and over technical issues
such as whether the transfer would be considered "domestic" or "international", or
whether any true conservation purpose would be served by the exchange. [111] A contest
in 2006 to name the pandas was held in the mainland, resulting in the politically charged
names Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan (from tuanyuan, meaning "reunion", i.e.
"reunification"). China's offer was initially rejected by Chen Shui-bian, then President of
Taiwan. However, when Ma Ying-jeou assumed the presidency in 2008, the offer was
accepted, and the pandas arrived in December of that year. [112]
Biofuel
Microbes in panda waste are being investigated for their use in creating biofuels from
bamboo and other plant materials.[113]
Conservation
The giant panda is a vulnerable species, threatened by continued habitat
loss and habitat fragmentation,[114] and by a very low birthrate, both in the wild and
in captivity.[48] Its range is currently confined to a small portion on the western edge of its
historical range, which stretched through southern and eastern China,
northern Myanmar, and northern Vietnam.[1]
The giant panda has been a target of poaching by locals since ancient times and by
foreigners since it was introduced to the West. Starting in the 1930s, foreigners were
unable to poach giant pandas in China because of the Second Sino-Japanese War and
the Chinese Civil War, but pandas remained a source of soft furs for the locals. The
population boom in China after 1949 created stress on the pandas' habitat and the
subsequent famines led to the increased hunting of wildlife, including pandas. During
the Cultural Revolution, all studies and conservation activities on the pandas were
stopped. After the Chinese economic reform, demand for panda skins from Hong Kong
and Japan led to illegal poaching for the black market, acts generally ignored by the
local officials at the time.
See also