Black and white, cuddly and endangered, which can only be the Giant Panda.
Read on for interesting facts!
1# The Latin for Giant Panda is ‘ailuropda melanoleuca’.
2# In China, they are known as ‘da xiong mao’, which means giant bear cat.
3# Male pandas are called boars. Female pandas are called sows. Their young are known as cubs.
4# Cubs are born blind, but sadly survival rate is low.
5# In captivity, giant pandas can live up to 35 years, but only 15 the wild.
6# Like a cat, pandas have slit like pupils.
7# A Chinese story tells us that pandas were originally white. When a shepherdess died protecting a panda, they held a funeral for her. The pandas wore black clothes and their tears mingled with the dye of the fabric, staining their fur.
8# The fur is pattered to break up its outline as camouflage in forests to protect itself.
9# Their fur is also waterproof.
10# An average male can grow up to 6ft in length (from snout to tail) and weigh in at 100kg.
11# 99% of a Giant Panda’s diet is made up of branches, stems and leaves of the bamboo plant.
12# They spend up to sixteen hours a day eating to gain enough sustenance.
13# They sit upright to eat, like a human.
14# It has an extra digit on its paw like an opposable thumb.
15# Its extra digit is adapted to grasp food.
16# A Giant Panda has flat molars with ridges and cusps for chewing and grinding food.
17# Pandas are shy and solitary creatures.
18# Unlike other bears, Giant Pandas do not roar, but have eleven different vocalisations.
19# Giant pandas are flat-footed, like humans, but this does not stop them climbing into trees for an afternoon nap.
20# Their anal sweat glands secrete smells to mark their territories.
21# The Giant Panda lives in mountain forests of southwest China, usually the Gansu, Shanxi and Sichuan provinces.
22# The deforestation of the provinces push pandas further out of their habitats and has caused a serious decline in population.
23# They are symbols of peace in China.
Read full here: https://topfactsite.com/26-cool-facts-about-giant-pandas/