Learn all about the giant panda, including why they’re threatened, how they raise young and the complexities of captive breeding.
Is a giant panda a bear?
Yes. Genetic studies have placed the giant panda in the bear family. However, its branch in the tree of life has been hotly debated for many years – it was at one point placed in the Procyonidae family, which includes racoons. Giant pandas are the only members of their genus.
Where does the giant panda live?
Giant pandas live in mixed forests in the mountains of south-west China (the Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces), usually at altitudes of 1,500-3,400 metres. Their preference for the high life is not necessarily through choice – pandas have been pushed out of lowland habitat as a result of human encroachment.
What do pandas eat?
Bamboo, bamboo and…. bamboo. A panda must consume up to 38kg of bamboo a day to survive, giving rise to its alternative name of ‘bamboo bear’. They do also feed on grasses, and take the occasional insect or rodent.
How big is a giant panda?
Approx 70-80cm tall at the shoulder; weight is in the region of 100-150kg.
How many giant pandas are there?
According to WWF, the current wild population is estimated at 1,864. Numbers are increasing, thanks to conservation efforts to protect, restore and link areas of panda habitat. In 2016, the species was downgraded from Endangered to Vulnerable by the IUCN.
Why are giant pandas endangered?
Habitat loss has been the main driver (though the species has been hunted in the past for its fur), with panda forests cleared for farming and the timber trade. Today, habitat loss and fragmentation remain the most significant threats to the species’ long-term survival.
Climate change is also a real danger, with large amounts of the panda’s bamboo habitat predicted to disappear in the coming decades. According to the IUCN, declining bamboo availability could reverse the gains made in the past two decades.
Can captive breeding help the population to recover?
Captive breeding pandas is a complex endeavour. Even in the wild, females are picky about their mates, and have an incredibly short window of fertility (up to 72 hours per year). In a breeding centre, where there are few male on offer, it’s even more difficult.
Even if a male and female are put together at exactly the right time, they may be completely disinterested in each other, or not be sufficiently versed in the mating game. Scientists therefore tend to rely on artificial insemination.
The first captive-born panda, Ming Ming, was born in Beijing Zoo in 1963. Today, there are more than 600 pandas in zoos and breeding centres across the world. Many are loaned from China.
Captive breeding pandas is a costly business. For this reason, some conservationists believe the money would be better spent elsewhere. The money raised from loaning pandas to zoos funds conservation in China, but not many captive born pandas are released into the wild. The first release took place in 2006, but the individual, known as Xiang Xiang, died within a year, possibly after falling from a tree.
How do parents raise their young?
Pandas have a slow birth rate, with females only giving birth once every two to three years. In the wild, the tiny, helpless newborns are kept in a natal den for the first three months of life, after which they are moved to a dense patch of bamboo. A cub remains with its mother for two to three years before becoming independent, starting to transition from milk to bamboo at the age of six to eight months.
Around fifty per cent of panda births result in twins, but in the wild, only one cub usually survives. In captive breeding facilities, keepers often play a game of ‘baby swap’ with mothers of twins, caring for one cub while the other is looked after by the mother. The female is then distracted, allowing the cubs to be exchanged.
Are giant pandas good climbers?
Yes. Young pandas like to rest in trees and are extremely adept climbers, whereas adults tend to stay on the ground. In the wild, this survival strategy helps keep the cub safe from predators such as jackals and snow leopards, while its mother feeds in the forest.
Are giant pandas related to red pandas?
Not closely. The red panda is in a family of its own – the Ailuridae, alongside the skunks (Mephitidae), raccoons (Procyonidae) and mustelids (Mustelidae). However, it exhibits similar behaviour, eating predominantly bamboo.
Unsurprisingly the giant panda is the national animal of China