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Science

Panda Trouble

by Margaret Etherton

Pandas are in terrible trouble. Let me tell you all about it. In the past they were hunted for their beautiful black and white fur coats. Their environment was in danger as people destroyed their habitat. In the wild today, there are only about 1,600 pandas left and they are found in one place in the world—Southern Central China. The trouble is that they are in danger of becoming extinct!

Because pandas live in a country with a great many people, land is important for growing food. Much of the panda's natural habitat has been cleared for growing crops and to be used as firewood. Only a few patches of forest are left where pandas can find suitable food. Their favorite food is bamboo and they spend ten to 16 hours a day munching on the stalks and roots. They have to eat an enormous amount of bamboo to fill their tummies—about 20 - 40 pounds (nine to 18 kilograms)!

Pandas live alone most of the time. With many patches of land far apart, they have to roam a long way to find a panda of the opposite sex. Females can only have a baby once every three years. All this means that there are fewer opportunities to have a baby in the wild.

When a baby panda is born it weighs only 4 ounces (125 grams), which is tiny compared to its roly-poly mom who weighs 200 pounds (90 kilograms)! The mother will not put down her newborn cub. The baby is so small that she cradles it in her hand like a doll to keep it safe. She will hold it to her chest and lick its tummy with her tongue. It is born no bigger than a baby kitten, but grows to be as big as a gorilla. Imagine poor Mom when she has twins. She has double trouble and unfortunately, she usually has to leave one baby behind.

While the baby is so helpless the mother does not leave it alone. She doesn't eat, but she lives off her stores of fat like a hibernating Brown Bear asleep in his cave. After about forty or fifty days, when the baby opens its eyes, she will leave it in the den to search for bamboo.

A panda mom likes to play with her cub; she wrestles and takes a swipe at it. She nibbles and tickles it, too. The tiny creature cannot stand on its wobbly feet until it is five months old. After one and a half years of nursing, the baby panda is ready to eat bamboo and trots along behind its mum to the bamboo forest.

The Chinese government has built new reserves and created more habitats for the pandas. In addition, people are boosting the population of pandas by raising them in zoos around the world. It is still difficult for them to breed anywhere away from their natural environment. But, zoo keepers now use a special milk mixture to feed the babies born in captivity. It is made from human milk formula and puppy formula. This way even two cubs can be fed at one time—mom feeds one twin and the other is given a bottle. People hope this will help the pandas to breed and to survive.

Pandas are in trouble because they live alone and don't have many babies. In addition, their forests are being cut down, leaving them little to eat. Sadly, they are close to extinction. But now, with preservation programs in China and zoos and the use of special milk, pandas are receiving the help that they need in easing their terrible troubles!

References

Bailey, Jill. Factfile of Mammal: 200 Mammals From Around the World.
London: Andromeda Oxford Ltd, 1996.

Macdonald, Dr. David, ed. The New Encyclopedia of Mammals. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Myers, Philip. Mammals, An Explore your World Handbook. London: Discovery Books, 2000.

Internet Sources:
http://www.bearden.org
http://www.china.org.cn/english/SO-e/18326.htm
http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/panda/37640.htm
http://www.pandasinternational.org/
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/animalbytes/t-giant_panda.html
http://www.worldwildlife.org/pandas/results/results2.cfm

Photos courtesy of Pandas International

Margaret Etherton is a teacher, tutor and writer. She has taught a range of subjects, such as reading, writing, mathematics and computers to people of all ages - from small kids to seniors. Her publishing credits include over twenty fiction and non-fiction articles for Australian School Magazines. Many of her stories have been created about animals from an interesting viewpoint or with a twist in the telling. Margaret lives close to the beach in Sydney with her husband, her four children and her cat, Mushka..

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