March 24, 2023
7 interesting facts about the big panda
Panda Day is celebrated in March. These black-and-white teddy bears are the subject of China's national pride and arouse the sympathy of almost everyone who happens to see them. Today in our collection of interesting facts from the life of pandas.
1. Excellent appetite. Pandas are big fans of eating and sleeping. In the wild, they eat for 14 hours a day, and the rest of the time is spent sleeping. During this time, an adult panda manages to eat from 12 to 38 kg of bamboo! To feed herself, she needs 3,000 hectares of bamboo forest. It is worth noting that the digestion of pandas is excellent, and the litter of one individual can reach 28 kg per day.
2. Pandas are former predators. Despite the love of bamboo, the teeth and digestive system of these animals are arranged like those of predators. Most likely, pandas used to be carnivorous, and then adapted to plant food. In addition to bamboo, they eat fruits and, if the opportunity presents itself, they can also eat meat. But pandas don't have enough energy and speed to chase prey, so in order to become their victim, the animal must be severely injured and unable to escape.
3. Slow reproduction. Pandas do everything slowly, including breeding. Usually a female gives birth to 1-2 cubs. Unfortunately, there is usually only enough milk for one, and therefore in the wild the mother takes care of only one baby, the second dies. The mating period of pandas lasts from March to May, pregnancy is 3-5 months, so most cubs are born in August. By the way, the bear raises the bear cub alone, the dad bears do not show interest in the offspring.
4. Pandas do not hibernate. Unlike their relatives, brown bears, big pandas do not fall asleep soundly with the onset of cold weather, but simply move to a lower mountainous area where the climate is warmer. The fact is that due to the low nutritional value of bamboo, these bears do not manage to accumulate enough fat, so they constantly have to maintain their metabolism by eating new and new stems.
5. Pandas have 6 toes on their front paws. The sixth finger is located separately, this helps them to hold bamboo stalks in the paw.
6. Not all pandas are black and white. In nature, there are both bears with a classic black-and-white color, and white-brown.
7. Pandas lived on Earth millions of years ago. Remains of pandas that lived 5-7 million years ago, during the Miocene epoch, have been found in Bulgaria.
Once pandas lived throughout China, but now their habitat is the mountainous regions of central China: Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi. For their protection, 50 nature reserves have been created on the territory of China, the total area of which is more than 1 million hectares.
1. Excellent appetite. Pandas are big fans of eating and sleeping. In the wild, they eat for 14 hours a day, and the rest of the time is spent sleeping. During this time, an adult panda manages to eat from 12 to 38 kg of bamboo! To feed herself, she needs 3,000 hectares of bamboo forest. It is worth noting that the digestion of pandas is excellent, and the litter of one individual can reach 28 kg per day.
2. Pandas are former predators. Despite the love of bamboo, the teeth and digestive system of these animals are arranged like those of predators. Most likely, pandas used to be carnivorous, and then adapted to plant food. In addition to bamboo, they eat fruits and, if the opportunity presents itself, they can also eat meat. But pandas don't have enough energy and speed to chase prey, so in order to become their victim, the animal must be severely injured and unable to escape.
3. Slow reproduction. Pandas do everything slowly, including breeding. Usually a female gives birth to 1-2 cubs. Unfortunately, there is usually only enough milk for one, and therefore in the wild the mother takes care of only one baby, the second dies. The mating period of pandas lasts from March to May, pregnancy is 3-5 months, so most cubs are born in August. By the way, the bear raises the bear cub alone, the dad bears do not show interest in the offspring.
4. Pandas do not hibernate. Unlike their relatives, brown bears, big pandas do not fall asleep soundly with the onset of cold weather, but simply move to a lower mountainous area where the climate is warmer. The fact is that due to the low nutritional value of bamboo, these bears do not manage to accumulate enough fat, so they constantly have to maintain their metabolism by eating new and new stems.
5. Pandas have 6 toes on their front paws. The sixth finger is located separately, this helps them to hold bamboo stalks in the paw.
6. Not all pandas are black and white. In nature, there are both bears with a classic black-and-white color, and white-brown.
7. Pandas lived on Earth millions of years ago. Remains of pandas that lived 5-7 million years ago, during the Miocene epoch, have been found in Bulgaria.
Once pandas lived throughout China, but now their habitat is the mountainous regions of central China: Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi. For their protection, 50 nature reserves have been created on the territory of China, the total area of which is more than 1 million hectares.
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