One of the rarest member of the bear family, the Giant Panda is amongst the world's most threatened animals! It is a bear native to South Central China and can be easily recognized by its large, distinctive black patches around its eyes, over its ears and across its round body. It is considered as the national treasure of China!
So why are they becoming extinct?
Panda has a very short reproductive period.
They can only reproduce 2-3 days during Spring each year!
This means that getting pregnant may be diffcult. The gestational period ranges from 95-106 days after which the baby will be born live. The cub is completely helpless in the first 3 months. It is born blind, hairless and tiny, weighing only 85-104g!
Another reason for their low numbers is habitat destruction. Modern developments has taken over their natural habitats. Roads and railways built to facilitate mankind's transportation system fragmented the forest. It isolated panda populations, making mating even more difficult.
A panda's diet is almost exclusively bamboo. They live in bamboo forests which also gives them their main food source. With their natural habitats shrinking, panda's livable area and condition becomes dire. Food shortage is a very real threat and without sufficient food, the Panda will suffer a natural decline in numbers.
How can we help?
WWF had made wonderful progress in terms of panda conservation projects in China. We can support them by donations which goes towards helping nature reserves protection, community development and research and monitoring work. All which helps to increase the number of pandas. We can also promote eco-tourism to reduce the impact of tourism on the pandas.
Spread the word! So that our future generations, our children will get to enjoy these beautiful and adorable gentle giants.
(All images - credit: Wikimedia Commons under Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license, Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, Attribution 2.0 Generic license)
