The pandas

Travis Pepin

Two unique mammals

• Two mammals in china and its surrounding countries are the giant panda and the red panda. The giant panda is a large, black and white bear. The red panda, also called the lesser panda, is reddish brown and much smaller.

The pandas

Panda’s place to stay

• Both pandas live in bamboo forests on upper mountain slopes. The giant panda lives in central China. The red panda lives in, Bhutan, china, India, Myanmar and Nepal.

What pandas eat

• Both types of pandas eat bamboo. The giant panda eats bamboo shoots as well as bamboo stems and leaves. The red panda eats bamboo leaves. Pandas grasp the bamboo between their fingers and an extra thumb. This thumb, grows from the wrist of each forepaw. Pandas also have true thumbs which they use as fingers.

Pandas digesting system

• Pandas have inefficient digestive system that cannot easily change plants into food energy. As a result, pandas must eat large quantities of bamboo. Giant pandas will eat up to 85 pounds of bamboo shoots per day.

Pandas eating bamboo

Pandas body

• Giant pandas are white with black legs and broad band of black across the shoulders. They have a large round head , small black ears and a white face with black patches around each eye. Normally they will grow 5 to 6 feet long and have a short tail. The adult pandas weigh 200 to 300 pounds.

Panda birth

• The female giant panda gives birth every two or three years to one or two cubs. Panda cubs are extremely tiny weighing 5 ounces at birth. The young will remain with the mother up to two years.

Red panda

• The red panda has long soft fur and a bushy tail with rings like that of a raccoon. This type of panda weighs about 6 to 12 pounds and grows to about 2 feet long without including the tail. The face is pale with white stripes curving down from each eye. The red panda climbs easy and sleeps in a tree for most of the day and searches for food at night such as fruits and berries and bamboo.

Red panda sleeping

Cutting down forests • Cutting down forests for wood and farmlands has destroyed a

large part of the habitat of giant pandas. To protect the giant panda, china has established reserves of bamboo-rich public land called wildlife corridors. This mea-ns there are continues areas of wildlife that connects larger reserves. China has banned logging in many areas and is trying to replant trees.scientests in china estimate that there are 2000 giant pandas and 1000 red pandas.

Resolution

• Zoos have been able to breed pandas within the last few years. They hold about 300 giant pandas witch are the numbers needed to preserve endangered animals.