The panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca, lit. "black and white cat-foot"), also known as the giant panda to distinguish it from the unrelated red panda, is a bear native to central-western and south western China. It is easily recognized by the large, distinctive black patches around its eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. Though it belongs to the order carnivore, the panda's diet is 99% bamboo. Pandas in the wild will occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents or carrion. In captivity, they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared food.
The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan province, but also in the Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. As a result of farming, deforestation and other development, the panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived.
The estimate shows that there are about 1,590 individuals living in the wild, while a 2006 study via DNA analysis estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000 to 3,000. Some reports also show that the number panda is a conservation reliant endangered species. A 2007 report shows 239 pandas living in captivity inside China and another 27 outside the country. Wild population estimates vary; one of pandas in the wild is on the rise. However, the IUCN does not believe there is enough certainty yet to reclassify the species from endangered to vulnerable.
The giant panda is an endangered species, threatened by continued habitat loss and by a very low birth rate, both in the wild and in captivity.
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.
What you can do to save the giant pandas is to:
Donate
Your donation will have a positive effect for pandas, their environment and the local people. When you donate to WWF, you will be donating to conservation projects on the ground in China for the pandas. Your donation will help towards things such as:
· Nature reserve protection, to ensure that the reserve borders are patrolled and no illegal hunting or logging takes place in the reserve.
· Community development such as buying wood saving stoves for local people to limit the impact that wood-fuel harvesting is having on the forests.
· Research and monitoring work, such as infrared cameras that are set up to record the movements of pandas in the Minshan and Qinling Mountains.
Travel smart
Panda tourism is on the rise. The Chinese government and WWF are now working on ways to reduce the impact of tourism on panda habitats.There is a greater focus on eco-tourism. For more information on the best way to limit your impact, read our travel smart tips.
Other ways you can help
Help spread the word about WWF and send a free e-card to your friends and family.
Do you have your own website or blog? Why not support WWF and link to us.
Make your mobile go wild and purchase ringtones or wallpaper for your mobile phone. on panda habitats.
There is a greater focus on eco-tourism. For more information on the best way to limit your impact, read our travel smart tips.
Do you have your own website or blog? Why not support WWF and link to us.
Make your mobile go wild and purchase ringtones or wallpaper for your mobile phone. on panda habitats.
There is a greater focus on eco-tourism. For more information on the best way to limit your impact, read our travel smart tips.
Please do donate for us. It will be of a great help.
