The sharply contrasting black and white coloration, added to the stocky characteristic shape of a bear, makes the giant panda one of the most recognizable animals in the world. The head, top of the neck and rump are white, while small patches of fur around the eyes, the ears, shoulders, front legs, and rear legs are black. When compared with other bears, the head of the giant panda is large in relation to its body. The front paw has six digits as a result of the radial sesamoid, the wrist bone, becoming extended to form an awkward, but functional, opposable thumb. The male genitalia are small and pointed to the rear, which is more similar to the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) than to other bears.
Native to central China, giant pandas have come to symbolize vulnerable species. As few as 1,864 giant pandas live in their native habitat, while another 600 pandas live in zoos and breeding centers around the world. The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute is a leader in giant panda conservation. Ever since these charismatic bears arrived at the Zoo in 1972, animal care staff and scientists have studied giant panda biology, behavior, breeding, reproduction and disease. These experts are also leading ecology studies in giant pandas’ native habitat. The Zoo’s giant panda team works closely with colleagues in China to advance conservation efforts around the world.
A fully grown male giant panda can weigh up to 300 lb (136 kg), while a female panda can weigh up to 200 lb (90 kg). Whereas, a newborn panda can weigh up to 0.22 lb (0.1 kg).
Diet Of A Panda
More than 99 percent of the food consumed by giant pandas consists of the branches, stems, and leaves of at least 30 species of bamboo, the species eaten varying from region to region. Adults consume 12 to 15 kilograms (26 to 33 pounds) of food per day when feeding on bamboo leaves and stems. However, when feeding on new bamboo shoots, they are capable of eating up to 38 kilograms (84 pounds) per day, which is about 40 percent of their average body weight. Although the proportion is small, pandas also feed to a limited degree on other plants and a small amount of meat. They feed mainly on the ground but are capable of climbing trees as well. They are active mainly at twilight and at night.
Native Habitat Of A Panda
Giant pandas live in a few mountain ranges in south central China, in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. They once lived in lowland areas, but farming, forest clearing and other development now restrict giant pandas to the mountains.
Giant pandas live in broadleaf and coniferous forests with a dense understory of bamboo, at elevations between 5,000 and 10,000 feet. Torrential rains or dense mist throughout the year characterizes these forests, often shrouded in heavy clouds.
Do Male & Female Pandas Have Different Weights?
Yes, males and female pandas have a huge difference in their weights. Male giant pandas are heavier than female giant pandas.
Let’s look at the average weight of male and female giant pandas to better understand how much do male and female giant pandas weigh.
What Is The Average Weight Of A Male Giant Panda?
The average weight of a male giant panda is 175 lb (79 kg) to 300 lb (135 kg). Giant pandas maintain their weight by eating continuously for 12 hours. Yes, 12 hours! In these 12 hours, giant pandas end up eating 28 pounds of bamboo.
What Is The Average Weight Of A Female Giant Panda?
The average weight of a female giant panda is 155 lb (70kg) to 220 lb (100 kg). Female giant pandas are 10 to 20% smaller than male giant pandas. It’s not because of their diet, as both male and female pandas’ diet comprises 99% bamboo. The difference in their body weight is biological.
How Heavy Is The Heaviest Panda?
The heaviest giant pandas can weigh up to 400 lb (180 kg) to 500 lb (226 kg). Are you shocked? Giant pandas are massive animals and it’s normal for them to weigh 300 lb (135 kg) on average. Whereas, the heaviest giant pandas can overtake other giant pandas by 100 to 200 lb more weight.
How Much Does A Full Grown Panda Weigh?
Males are larger than females, weighing up to 250 pounds (113 kilograms) in the wild. Females rarely reach 220 pounds (104 kilograms).
How Much Does A Panda Usually Weighs?
In the wild males weigh from 85 to 125 kilograms (190 to 275 pounds), while females range between 70 and 100 kilograms (155 to 220 pounds). At birth, cubs weigh only 85 to 140 grams (3 to 5 ounces).
What Is The Heaviest Panda Ever?
Considered chubby for his species, a panda cub weighing 249 grams (8.8oz), is believed to be the world’s heaviest giant panda to be born in captivity. The birth happened at the Panda Centre in Wolong Nature Reserve in China’s southwestern province of Sichuan.
What Is A Average Size Of A Panda?
3.9 – 6.2 ft.
Adult
Giant panda/Length
Is Panda A Bear Or Not?
Recent DNA analysis indicates that giant pandas are more closely related to bears and red pandas are more closely related to raccoons. Accordingly, giant pandas are categorized in the bear family while red pandas are the only members of their family, Ailuridae.
Why Do Pandas Only Live In China?
The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan, but also in neighbouring Shaanxi and Gansu. As a result of farming, deforestation, and other development, the giant panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived, and it is a conservation-reliant vulnerable species.
Has A Panda Ever Killed A Human?
Giant panda attacks on human are rare. There, we present three cases of giant panda attacks on humans at the Panda House at Beijing Zoo from September 2006 to June 2009 to warn people of the giant panda’s potentially dangerous behavior.
Are All Pandas Born Female?
Oh yes – and all pandas are born female. Males are only created if a panda receives a fright in its first 48 hours of life. This is why some zoos employ panda spookers.
Are Pandas Gentle?
Pandas are cuddly, gentle creatures. … Generally keepers do not enter the pandas’ enclosures when the animals are there. They know that you should no more cuddle an adult giant panda than you should an adult black bear.
Are Pandas Lazy Animals?
Giant pandas have the digestive system of a carnivore, yet the feeding habits of an herbivore. Yet even for herbivores, they are exceptionally lazy. … This means pandas spend a lot of their time lolling around. In the wild, pandas were physically active half the time; in captivity, a third.
Do Pandas Get Hurt When They Fall?
First up, giant pandas love to play on swings, but they can’t help feeling embarrassed when they fall off, which apparently happens all the time. … According to a breeder, apparently pandas do become embarrassed just like us. But the fluffy and fat bears aren’t physically injured when they take a spill.
Can A Human Fight A Panda?
No matter how many adorable videos you’ve seen of pandas, don’t approach a giant panda in the wild. They have strong grips and can deliver powerful bites that are strong enough to harm a human leg.
Why Are Pandas So Useless?
As anything other than marketing tools, pandas are one of evolution’s less successful products. Built to be carnivores, they actually subsist on a diet of almost exclusively bamboo. So they are severely under-supplied with the protein, fats and assorted other nutrients a decent steak would provide.
Do Pandas Have Feelings?
Though all of the giant panda keepers I’ve spoken with share a similar fondness for their charges, none of them had any illusions that their feelings were reciprocated. Solitary in the wild, pandas don’t even have meaningful, lasting relationships with one another.