By Felicia Ferentinos 134 Nichols Rd Nesconset,N11767 (631)366-3444 Giant panda report _________________________________________________________________________________ The giant panda is known to be Chinas

national treasure. This animal is protected by law. This bear is loved by Chinese people and they have also been seen in Chinese art back in thousands of years and the Chinese will call the giant panda the large bear cat. The people that live outside of China are totally fascinated by this animal ever since in the year of 1869. Right now it is more than 100 years later. The giant panda has been loved worldwide. The Giant panda is known to have a really specialized diet more than all the bears in the world. There are only about two species of bamboo; the names of the two bamboos are the arrow and the umbrella bamboo). A panda will eat about 40 pounds (18 kg) of food every single day. The bamboos that the giant panda eats are really low in nutrition. Even through the giant panda eats this plant a lot of it cannot really digest it really good that is because the bamboo will usually be pass through the digestive tract will by not be digested . So they will have to digest their food by eating 12 hours of bamboo every day so that they can get a lot of nourishment. In the throat and in the stomach they have extra- tough linings so that they can protect themselves when they are eating really hard food. The panda will usually eat while they are sitting in an upright position. So they will have to use their front paws to hold the food that they are eating. When pandas are in captivity (like in a zoo or in a breeding center). They will really be fed with bamboo, rice, cereal, carrots, apples and they will also be fed with sweet potatoes. The most important food source for a giant panda is bamboo. There are some pandas that can eat 84 pounds (38 kilograms) of food every day. The panda can hold their bamboo by stalking their five fingers in a really special wrist bone. Then Grade: A++

to peel off the hard outer layers with their teeth so that they can reveal a really soft inner tissue. Pandas have an really strong jaw bone and cheek muscles that can help it to crush and chew the thick stalks it will use its flatten back teeth to do that. The home of where an animal lives it's called its habitat (A habitat is a place where animals live). When pandas are in the wild they can only live in a few mountain areas that can be in the central and in the western of China. There are a lot of pandas that live in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu Provinces. The pandas national habitats are in places that are cool, wet and in cloudy mountain forest lands. This is how bamboo can grow. Giant pandas will usually live in a mix between deciduous/ evergreen temperate forests that can be 3,000 and 10,500 feet (900-3,200m) that the altitude (that can be below the timberline). Pandas once live in really small altitudes. That is because of farming and the land development has pushed these bears up into really high mountain locations. The panda can reproduce really slowly. The panda will start to mate in the spring and they will get attracted by calls and odors. Females will only give birth between 95 to 160 days after they are mating. They will usually have their cubs inside of a den that they will usually dig in the ground. Mothers will only have two cubs but there are only one them of them that will make it to adulthood. The moment that these cubs are born they will be all white, blind and they will become completely helpless the moment that they are born. The giant panda babies are known to be the smallest newborn mammals. They can weigh about four to six ounces (85- 140 g) this is how much they weigh when they are an newborn cub. They can be lighter as an apple. The giant panda babies are just like human babies because they are known to cry when they want food or they need care from their mother. The cubs will start to open when eyes six to seven weeks old. They will live with their mother for three months after they are born. They will be able to eat bamboo when they are 6 months old and they will continue to drink their mothers milk for 9 months. Giant pandas will grow really slowly. They will remain with their mother for one to two years. They will be an fully-grown panda when they 2 or 4 years old.

The greatest danger for a giant panda is really humans. These bears are known to be really endangered. The reason why they are in endangered because poachers are killing them for their pelts. Poachers will kill the panda for their pelts because they want to sell them for money. The giant panda is known to be the symbol for all endangered and in threatened species. Today there are about 2,000 pandas that are still left in the wild today. in the end of 2006 there has been a report that there are 180 pandas that are in captivity that are found in the mainland of china. That is in 20 other countries that can be found in china. The most common threat that is going on with the giant panda today is their habitat is getting destroyed. Ever since people have been moving into their homes then they are starting to be pushed into really small areas way up high in the mountains of China. There are so many national lowland habitats are being destroyed by farmers and because of the growth of the human population. The forests that pandas live in are starting to be clear out this is a bad thing because if pandas do not have enough room then they will have an really hard time to look for food and also have an really hard time making more of themselves. There are about 1,600 giant pandas that are left in the wild today. There are seven reasons why these amazing bears are in so much trouble. The biggest reason why pandas are endangered because there are billions of people that live in China. The problem with that is people are starting to build lots of cities and farms right one giant pandas habitats. This is causing a really big problem for the panda because if there is not enough room for pandas to live on then they will have a really hard time to look for food and to rise their young.

Another big problem is that these bears like to be by themselves all year long. This means that they do not have a really long breeding season. There are really short which means males do not have an enough time to look for a female to mate with. The females will only give birth to only one or two cubs are totally depended on their mother for everything. They will continue to do this for only for the first few years of their lives when they are in the wild then

the mother will only care for just one cub, but in panda facilities that are in China. The pandas that live in these facilities are a lot different than the ones that live in the wild. The keepers that works in these facilities are always trying to help to hand rise the two twin cubs. There can only be only one baby that can be lifted with the mother and the keepers. In every often they will have to switch the cubs every once. In every few days so that each of them can be care for and so that they can drink their mothers milk. The other big problem that they are facing is when the bamboo grows and when they start to produce the seeds. So when the mature plant dies then then a new seed will start to grow really slow into the plant that can be big enough for the panda to eat it. The giant panda eats about 25 different types of bamboo, but they will usually eat about 4 or 5 different types of bamboo that usually grows in their habitat. The really weird thing about pandas is that all of the plants that is in species that can grow in an area that will usually bloom and then it will die. When the bamboo dies then panda will start to move into another area. But with the problem with humans taking over their home land. The giant panda is having a really hard time looking for a new area of their habitat because they will be moved into a place where it is really hard to look for so they make end up going through starvation. I have learned from my research on the giant panda. But there is one thing that learned from this research and that is. We must save these amazing animals from being gone forever. These amazing bears are amazing animals and they should have the chance to live on with their lives. These bears need all the help that they can get. The Giant panda has the right to continue living on this planet. They are doing their part in nature and we should find a place in nature to. This is a really big planet that is full of wonders and discoveries that are just waiting to be found. We have to make this planet safe for us and for other creatures that we share it with. This bear is a really beautiful animal. I am so happy that they are here on this earth. This is our beautiful home it deserves to have a second chance to live on for the next generation on this planet. There is an big, bright and beautiful future out there that is just waiting to be found. I hope you have enjoyed my research as I enjoyed making it. Remember anything can happen if you help your planet and all the other creatures who share it. The giant panda is counting on us to save it from extinction. We have to do something before it is too late. That is

what I have learned during my research. If we worked together we can save the giant panda and the other animals that live on this planet with us. Together we can make a difference in our beautiful planet that we all share. That is what I have learned during this research. I hope you enjoyed as much as I did.