The largest country in the world, China, has a native animal that is considered almost a divinity: the Panda Bear, a carnivorous mammal originating in this eastern country. They are very visited in zoos, not only local, but in many other international centers. The Panda Bear is so popular that it is the logo of the world fund that protects animals, WWF.
It is well known that this animal is currently in danger of extinction. Many times it can seem like a calm and innocent animal, but other times it can become one of the most dangerous that exist on our planet earth.
The panda bear
The panda bear is a beautiful, large animal that by its appearance undoubtedly looks like a giant stuffed animal, but it is much more than appearances. The panda bear has an insatiable appetite for bamboo, it usually eats half the day: a total of 12 hours eating. He usually eats 13 pounds of bamboo to meet his daily dietary needs and plucks the stems with his wrist bones, which are elongated and function like thumbs. Sometimes pandas can also eat birds or rodents.
Wild pandas often live in remote, mountainous regions of central China. This is so because in these areas there are the highest bamboo forests and they have this plant in a fresh and humid way, something they love. Pandas can climb and climb high to feed when plants are scarce, such as in summer. They usually eat seated, in a relaxed posture and with their back legs stretched out. Although they seem sedentary they are not since they are expert tree climbers and very efficient swimmers.
Pandas bears are solitary and have a highly developed sense of smell, especially in males to avoid meeting others and thus being able to locate the females and be able to mate in spring.
When females get pregnant, their pregnancy lasts five months and they give birth to a cub or two, although they cannot care for two at a time. Panda babies are blind and very small at birth. Panda babies cannot crawl for up to three months, although they are born white and often develop the black and white coloration later.
Today there are about 1000 pandas in the wild, about 100 live in zoos. All that is known today about pandas is thanks to those in captivity since wild pandas are difficult to reach. Although of course, the best place for a panda bear, as for any animal, is in its habitat and not in a zoo.
The enemy of the panda
They do not usually have many enemies since there are usually no predators that want to eat them. Even if his main enemy is man. There are people who want to hunt pandas for their unique skins and colors. Human destruction endangers their natural habitat and this is the greatest threat and has pushed them to the brink of extinction.
Another enemy may be the snow leopard. It is a predator that can kill panda cubs when the mother is distracted to eat them. But when the mother is there, the leopard does not dare to attack because it knows that it would be easily defeated.
Do pandas attack?
Panda attacks are rare as they avoid people and the places where they live. A wild panda rarely has contact with a human being, although an angry panda because it has been provoked or because its young have been disturbed may attack to defend itself.
In zoos, panda bears are adorable but although it is rare, they can attack if they feel invaded or disturbed. Even if they look like a teddy bear, they should be as respected as any other wild animal.
The news about the panda bear Gu Gu
On several occasions the news that arrives about the Pandas Bears is incredible. Many find it difficult to digest that this seemingly harmless animal is so tough. One such news is what happened to 28-year-old Zhang Jiao. His son dropped his toy where the Panda Bear named Gu Gu was, and when trying to recover it, he suffered a hard attack from it.
Mr. Jiao suffered as the animal bit his leg, but the most surprising of all is that he did absolutely nothing to counteract the damage. Why? Well because like many orientals, has great respect for the Panda Bear, whom he regards as a national treasure. He assures that they are cute and that he is glad that they are always eating bamboo under the trees. What an attitude for more surprising!
The most curious thing of all is that if the zoo wishes, it can take legal action against Zhang Jiao for having entered an area restricted for people, such as the Panda Bear area.
The panda bear Gu Gu
It is important to mention that the Bear Gu Gu already came with a history of attacking human beings. A year before this painful incident with Zhang, the animal in question attacked a minor of only fifteen years for having climbed to the limits of the place where the animal was. And a couple of years before, he attacked a drunken foreigner because he hugged him.
Definitely animals are instinctive and do not attack for pleasure but because they feel intimidated and it is their only form of defense. However, for all those who thought that the Panda Bear was a kind of stuffed animal, a calm and sweet being, they have already seen that it is better to stay alert and respect the instructions of the zoos.
Did you know that for about $ 100 you can have a Panda Bear up close and interact with it? Yes, it is said that well raised and trained in a reserve place they are very friendly. But it's better sometimes leave them calm and free not to suffer one of his attacks, which can end up wreaking havoc throughout his life, or worse, fatalities.
You have already been warned, visit them but please, with great care and affection.
A great post! I have read it with my 8 year old nephew because we had doubts about whether the panda would attack people.
Congratulations on such a complete publication, it has helped us to learn a lot about pandas! Thank you! 🙂
Very good writing, very good truth, I was also very curious about whether pandas could be hostile, although obviously they can be from the ursidae family anyway, a bear weighing more than 200 kilos can hurt you a lot with a single blow of its paw the truth, by the way China is the country with the largest territory occupied by man but not the largest that would be Russia