Giant Panda
"The giant panda requires no detailed description; its striking, black-and-white image is known throughout the world."
------ Schaller et al. in The Giant Pandas of Wolong
The panda's scientific name is Ailuropoda meleanoleuca, meaning "black and white". The Chinese name is DaXiongMao,
large bear-cat.
Historically, the giant panda had a wide Pleistocene distribution, encompassing parts of Burma and much of eastern China.
However, today they are seen only along the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau
in six small blocks of land totaling about 29,500 km2. The Giant Panda Expedition in 1974 provided a rough estimate of
the wild population at 1,050 to 1,100, with 100 or more in Wolong Nature Reserve. The most recent panda census
started in 2000 and released in 2004 that there are approximately 1,600 living in the wild. Wolong's panda population size is around 150.
Pandas eat bamboo as their staple food source (more than 99% of their food intake or 12-38 kg daily). They spend up to 14 hours per day
eating, stopping only to sleep or travel short distances. Two major bamboo species in Wolong are Fargesia (umbrella
bamboo, shown in the picture above) in low elevations down to 1,600 m and S. fangiana (arrow bamboo) in high elevations up to 3,400 m.
Habitat loss and fragmentaion are the major threats to the long-term survival of pandas. The reasons are the rapid human population
growth, the even faster growth in the number of households, and the resulting unsustainable use of natural resources. Wolong, although a nature reserve, is no exception. People settle down in low altitudes,
clear forests for agriculture, and cut trees for timber, fuelwood, furniture, and housing. Thus, human activities push pandas to higher mountain areas.
An example of panda habitat with understorey arrow bamboo in Wolong is shown below:
Links: