In honor of the bear those of us at State College saw on Monday, this weeks endangered species is a bear!
Sadly, six of the world’s eight bear species (75%) are threatened with extinction, with Asia and South America being “the areas most in need of urgent conservation action.”
Endangered Species of the Week: The Giant Panda
(Ailuropoda melanoleuca)
According to a recent survey by the Chinese State Forestry Administration and the conservation organization WWF, approximately 1,600 pandas remain. And ok, technically the giant panda is no loner considered endangered (yay!) as of 2019, but according to the IUCN Red List, the giant panda is still categorized as vulnerable.
Giant pandas are identified by their distinctive black and white coloring. Their ears, muzzle, eyes, shoulders and legs are black while the rest of their body is white. They have thick hair that keeps them warm in the cool, wet mountain zones.
When on all fours, giant pandas average between 2-3 ft. tall and 4-6 ft. long. They can weigh between 220-250 lb., with males being larger than females.
Why is it so important to save the giant panda?
The giant panda an example of an umbrella species. This means that through helping the giant panda, we also protect hundreds of other species and ecosystems that live around the panda and rely on them. Pandas also bring sustainable economic benefits to many local communities through ecotourism.
Where Do They Live?
Pandas live mainly in temperate broadleaf and mixed forests high in the mountains of southwest China, where they subsist almost entirely on bamboo.
Fun Facts
- A newborn panda is about the size of a stick of butter—about 1/900th the size of its mother.
- These bears are excellent tree climbers despite their size
- They must eat around 26 to 84 pounds of bamboo every day
- They use their enlarged wrist bones that function as opposable thumbs.
- The newborn cub is blind, hairless, and tiny, weighing only 85-140 g (3-5 oz.). The cub cannot move much on its own for nearly 3 months
What is Threatening the Giant Panda?
HABITAT LOSS
Infrastructure development (such as dams, roads, and railways) is increasingly fragmenting and isolating panda populations, preventing pandas from finding new bamboo forests and potential mates.
Forest loss also reduces pandas’ access to the bamboo they need to survive. The Chinese government has established more than 50 panda reserves, but only around 67% of the total wild panda population lives in reserves, with 54% of the total habitat area being protected.
HUNTING
Although poaching impacted pandas in the past, its impact declined since the enactment of the Wildlife Protection Act (1988), which bans poaching and carries severe punishments. However, pandas may get caught accidentally in snares set for musk deer or other species.
What is being done?
To combat this issue, the Chinese government has actively worked to restore and protect bamboo habitat, and these measures have shown positive results.
Nearly 60 panda reserves, a ban on logging, and widespread reforestation programmes have been established.
However, due to the fact that pandas reproduce so infrequently, it is very difficult for their population to recover from such a low point.
How Can You Help?
Support WWF: WWF was the first international conservation organization to work in China at the Chinese government’s invitation. WWF has been working with the Chinese government’s National Conservation Program for the giant panda and its habitat. Thanks to this program, panda reserves now cover more than 3.8 million acres of forest
Take Action: Send a message to Congress and the State Department asking them to take the necessary steps to help prevent future pandemics.
Adopt A Panda: Make a symbolic adoption and donate to support WWF
Subscribe to WWF’s Newsletter to stay informed about conservation efforts! (Found at the bottom of their website)
And that's it! See you guys next week!
Sources:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/11/most-endangered-bears-ranked/
https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/giant-panda
Your passion blog is extremely informative yet has a playful tone that makes it fun and interesting to read. The way you play with the aesthetic through your fonts, formatting, and pictures also shine through! It is difficult to keep people’s attention when writing an informative piece, and you had me entertained with every word! Awesome!
I learn a bunch from this blog every week! I love your choice of pandas and tieing the bear incident on campus as well. I hadn’t heard of the term “umbrella species” before but it’s really cool to learn about that! Like Emilie, I love you formatting and it looks like a professional blog