What do you think of when you think of cuddly and lovable? Most think – cuddly ‘little’ bear, or the Giant Panda Bear that is one of the cutest, most loved animals on the planet. It has long been the favorite stuffed animal of kids and a few adults. So, it makes perfect sense that a holiday on March 16 exists in their honor.
So, giant pandas or red pandas? Must be pretty similar, right? I mean they’re both “pandas,” both eat bamboo, both are cute and furry; they even share habitat! “Panda” means ‘bamboo-eater’. But there are many differences between these two adorable creatures.
The red panda is not related to the giant panda. The giant panda belongs to the Bear family and red pandas are the only living members of their taxonomic family – Ailuridae. However, both share characteristics and a common ancestor. This is called “convergent evolution.”
The red panda is the “original panda”. The giant panda was discovered later and only called a panda because of the anatomical features both species share.
The red panda and giant panda habitats overlap in Sichuan, China; otherwise, nearly 50 percent of the red panda’s habitat is in the Eastern Himalayas, including Nepal, Tibet, India, Bhutan, and Myanmar. The giant panda inhabits the six major mountain ranges in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces of China.
Both climb trees and eat bamboo, and a lot of it. The average giant panda eats as much as 20 to 45 pounds of bamboo shoots a day, whereas the red panda eats only 2 to 4 pounds of bamboo shoots and leaves each day and eat fruits, insects, bird eggs, and sometimes small animals. Both have an enlarged wrist bone, (often known as a false thumb) to hold bamboo stems while they eat.
Habitat destruction has led to food shortages. Pandas need over 300 species of bamboo to survive. They feed on varieties of bamboo that bloom at different times of the year. If one type of bamboo is destroyed by development, it can leave the pandas with nothing to eat during the time it normally blooms, increasing the risk of starvation.
The red panda is an endangered species whereas the giant panda is now classified as vulnerable. Both of these adorable animals are struggling to survive due to habitat loss and degradation and now rely on conservation interventions to ensure their survival.
Zoos worldwide have banded together to offer an environment to preserve the species and ensure long-term survival. The red panda breeds pretty successfully under zoo conditions. The World Association of Zoos and Aquaria (WAZA) coordinate the breeding programs for red pandas protected in zoos around the world.
Unfortunately, both the giant panda and the red panda are hunted and poached for their fur. Poaching of the giant panda has declined due to strict laws and greater public awareness of the panda’s protected status; the red panda is still poached for its pelt and for the black-market pet trade.
Popular and distinctive, known for their kitten-like faces and ruddy coats, the red panda lives in high mountain forests in China, Myanmar, and Nepal. It has a white face with a red-brown stripe running from each eye to the corners of the mouth, thick reddish-brown fur and a long, bushy tail like a raccoon’s. It only grows to about 20 to 26 inches long, not including the tail and weighs about 6 to 10 pounds.
They travel in pairs or small family groups. They feed on the ground at night and sleep in trees during the day. There are fewer than 10,000 red pandas left in the wild. The ones in the Indian subcontinent are different from the Chinese breeds.
Red pandas behave in the same funny, slow, and clumsy way that giant pandas do. When they walk, their gait and posture are similar. Like giant pandas, they are curious and seemingly intelligent. About 30 red pandas equal 1 giant panda! International Red Panda Day is celebrated on the third Saturday of September.
In the early 20th century, wildlife researchers and taxonomists discovered the giant pandas in China and thought they were related to the red pandas in Nepal since they both eat bamboo and share similar anatomical features. To differentiate, they added “giant” to panda. Previously, giant pandas were called “mottled bears” because it was thought that they were a species of bear. The word “mottled” describes their white and black coloring.
As a result of farming, deforestation, and other development, the giant panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived. Now they live high in the dense bamboo forests in cool, wet, remote mountainous forests. Only about 1,500 of these black-and-white bears survive in the wild.
Giant pandas eat fast and a lot. They spend up to 14 hours a day eating leaves, stems, and roots and a bit of fruit. Overall, bamboo is not very nutritious and they digest only about a fifth of what they eat. To stay healthy, they have to eat up to 15 percent of their body weight in 12 hours—so fast eaters. They can chomp on bamboo up to one-and-a-half inches thick.
When on all fours, giant pandas average between 2-3 feet tall at the shoulder and between 4-6 feet long. An adult female giant panda weighs 200 pounds while males can grow up to about 300 pounds.
These bears are excellent tree climbers despite their bulk. They can climb as high as 13,000 feet and are very good swimmers. Sometimes males relax by doing handstands against trees. Pandas are shy; they don’t venture into areas where people live, which restricts them.
Molecular studies indicate the giant panda is a true bear, part of the family Ursidae. These studies show it diverged about 19 million years ago from the common ancestor of the Ursidae and is the most fundamental member of the family and equidistant from all other existing bear species. The giant panda has been referred to as a living fossil.
The giant panda’s tail, measuring 4 to 6 inches, is the second-longest in the bear family, behind the sloth bear. The giant panda typically lives 15-20 years in the wild and up to 30 years in captivity. A female named Jia Jia was the oldest giant panda ever in captivity, born in 1978 and died at an age of 38 on October 16, 2016.
Pandas communicate through vocalization and scent marking such as clawing trees or spraying urine. They climb and take shelter in hollow trees or rock crevices and do not establish permanent dens. Their thick hair keeps them warm in the cool, wet mountains. Giant pandas do not hibernate, but move to elevations with warmer temperatures. Pandas have been known to cover themselves in horse manure to protect against cold temperatures.
When pandas are between 4-8 years of age, they reach maturity and can reproduce. Giant pandas are loners, except during the mating season. Females are only able to become pregnant for 2-3 days each spring. In this small window of time, male and female pandas find each other through scents and calls similar to that of goats or sheep. They do not roar like other bears.
After mating, the female chases away the male and raises the cubs by herself. Between 95 and 160 days of becoming pregnant, the female panda will give birth. A newborn cub is blind, hairless, and about the size of a stick of butter—about 1/900th the size of its mother. Completely helpless, the cub cannot move much on its own for nearly 3 months. In turn, the mother is very protective and careful in tending to her cub during this time. Due to the fact that pandas reproduce so infrequently, it is very difficult for their population to recover.
A Panda On My Veranda. There’s a panda on my veranda. It’s been there most of the night. I don’t think I would have believed it, But it’s there in black and white…© Terry Flood