|  Giant Pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) date back two to three million years. Ancient Chinese emperors kept pandas because they were believed to ward off evil spirits as well as natural disasters. There is an ancient Chinese story about how giant pandas got their unique markings. A young girl who was a friend of these bears died and the pandas were struck with sorrow. They wept at her funeral and rubbed their eyes with their arms. The dark color from their armbands was wiped onto their eyes. The bears then hugged themselves and marked their ears, shoulders, hind legs and rumps, resulting in the pattern seen today.
Today pandas are found only in a relatively small area in Asia on mountainous slopes in Western China and limited to the provinces of Sichuan, Gansu, and Shanxi in the central part of the country. They exist on a diet largely comprised of bamboo shoots. Their diet is extremely limited and found only in a specific habitat. In fact, their individual habitat range is only about one square mile. Giant pandas can spend 10-12 hours a day feeding in order to consume enough food to survive. They are well known for their upright feeding position, which leaves their forelegs free to handle the bamboo stalks. The panda has adapted several special characteristics related to eating bamboo. It has an extra digit on its hand that helps in tearing the bamboo. This adaptation also allows increased dexterity while handling bamboo. The stomach walls are extremely muscular to help digest the woody diet; and the gut is covered with a thick layer of mucus to protect against splinters. Click here to read more... |
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