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The Giant Panda Weight: 165-353 pounds Body Length: 4-5 feet Tail: 5 inches Males are slightly larger than females. They have stronger forelegs, wider muzzles and are 10-20% heavier. They have stout, powerful limbs. Their hind feet lack a heel pad They have scent glands positioned under the tail Their head is relatively massive with well developed chewing muscles. Unlike other bears they have well-developed premolars. Their molars are broad and flat and adapted to chewing bamboo. Their digestive system is typical of a carnivore; only slightly adapted for processing bamboo: tough esophageal lining, pyloric region of stomach thick and muscular, small intestine shortened, colon surface area enlarged. Male genitalia is similar to red panda Vision is poor. Their pupils have a vertical slit like many nocturnal animals Sense of smell is very good Coat is thick and wooly. It is white with black eye patches, ears, legs, band across shoulders and sometimes tip of tail. Fur is slightly oily preventing water penetration Their striking coloration is thought to be an important signal to other pandas ( They avoid contact and have poor vision). Brown-and-white pandas exist but are extremely rare. In the past 20 years panda territory has been reduced by 50%. Logging, mining, agriculture, livestock, and an increasing human population contribute to the problem. The genetic isolation of the remaining populations has resulted in inbreeding and a loss of genetic variability. Many of the groups number fewer than 50. The panda's dependence upon bamboo as a primary food source is a problem. Each species of bamboo has a unique reproductive cycle. Bamboos flower and die once every 40-120 years. It then takes approximately 5 years for a species to regenerate to the point of being a reliable food source once again. About 130 pandas starved in the mid-1970s when 3 bamboo species died over a large area. Panda skins sell for more than $10,000 in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. Poaching is a problem. Pan Wenshi, noted panda researcher and zoologist with Beijing University, believes that perhaps 1,200 pandas remain in China. The Siberian Tiger     The Javan Rhino Back to list of endangered species This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page