giant panda final

In this episode of the Wildlife Wonders Podcast, the host discusses panda bears. Panda bears are found in Southwestern China and are primarily herbivores, eating mostly bamboo. They can also eat fish, flowers, and small animals. They have unique paws and powerful cheek muscles for eating bamboo. They spend most of their day searching for food and do not hibernate. They have a low reproductive rate and typically give birth to one or two cubs. Predators of panda cubs include jackals, snow leopards, and yellow-throated martens. Panda bears are vulnerable due to habitat loss and fragmentation. In captivity, they can live longer than in the wild. Hello, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Wildlife Wonders Podcast. I'm your host, the one, the only, Seriana, back at it again with another episode and another week. Like always, thank you guys for tuning in and listening to me talk about these animals and for sharing, liking content on my pages, sharing with friends and family. I really appreciate all of it, like every single listener makes a difference and I hope that y'all are learning something and enjoying it as much as I enjoy recording it. So regardless, we ended the last series on primates and yeah, that was like a little mini series about primates and different types of primates. We are going to go back to how the podcast first started and go through animal classes such as mammals, reptiles, amphibians. So this week, we're going to kick it back off in the beginning with the mammal. And as I was going through this, I really, I really didn't know, I had trouble choosing which animal and then I was like, okay, let's do a bear, but I was like, which bear? So I decided to do or to discuss a panda bear today. Panda bear is the most vulnerable bear, I think next to the sun bear, but let's get right into it. So panda bears are typically found in Southwestern China. They in different areas, I forgot what you call it, not districts, but different areas of Southwestern China, but you would not find them outside of Southwestern China in the wild, but you will find them in zoos all over the world. So you probably at some point, most people have seen a panda bear is the black and white big bear that looks so cute and cuddly. So they eat their diet, they eat 25 to 40 pounds of bamboo per day. Now you guys, there's certain, I know about a lot of animals, certain groups of animals, I don't know that much about bears and swans, well some bears and swans. I did not know that they eat something else other than bamboo, but you guys, pandas eat other food. They mostly eat bamboo, but they can also eat fish, flowers, and small animals. Technically, they're classified as carnivores, but majority of their diet is bamboo, so I would see them more as a herbivore, which means they eat mostly plants. So in captivity, they can also get eggs, ground meat, specially formulated vitamin bread, milk. They can also get apples and carrots as a treat, but I'm going to be honest, I don't think I've ever seen a panda eat anything but bamboo, so that was a very fun fact that I learned, and I don't know if y'all already knew that, but if you didn't, surprise. So yeah, they eat things other than bamboo, but their main diet is bamboo and the entire, they don't just eat one part bamboo, they eat the entire thing from the beginning to the end. So if they're, for them to eat mostly bamboo, they're actually pretty big. They weigh about 165 to 353 pounds, you guys. Not small bears. They're anywhere between four to five feet tall, although most of the time they're sitting on their butts, so you might not see how tall they are for real unless they stand up, but a lot of times they're sitting on their butts most of the day. They have black patches, like I said, the panda's black and white, they have black patches around their eyes and black ears, and their head is white, they have black and white around their legs, and their midsections are also white. It's kind of hard to tell them apart because unlike other animals where like, oh, this animal's fur is different from that animal, one's bigger than the other, all their markings are very, very similar, so it's kind of hard if you're trying to distinguish, oh, that was this one I saw yesterday and that was this one I saw last night. Now they do have really thick fur, it's kind of oily, and it's thick to keep them warm and when it's cold, they're in the mountains, sometimes it snows, but they are big bears and because of this, they're also kind of slow. Yeah, they usually don't go fast and with a waddle or a walk, if you see them, it always looks like they're like, you know how pregnant women sometimes walk with a waddle, it's kind of like that in a way, but they can also be kind of clumsy. You know, and before I go on, when I think about it, if I had to describe myself sometimes, I would describe myself as a panda, like I feel like everybody has their panda days, you eat most of the day, you sit down, relax, you don't want to do anything, that is a panda. Now they can eat up to 14 hours a day, they spend majority of their day eating, they do have unique paws, they can hold the bamboo, they can bite the stalks, they're usually like I said, in a sitting position, every now and then they'll lay on their back and snack, because you know, we all like to lay back and eat our chips or whatever the case may be. They do have really puffy cheeks, but the puffy cheeks are actually really powerful muscles and it helps them get through the tough bamboo. If you have ever felt or held a stalk of bamboo, it is incredibly strong, so it's amazing that these animals are chowing down through it most of the day. Now, because they eat most of the day, most of the day they do spend in search of food, unlike other bears, they do not store fat and they do not hibernate, so that is something that's unique to them, because they don't store fat, they don't really need to hibernate, and because of this, they are mostly spending their day searching for food. Now they do have 13 different kinds of vocalizations that people have studied, the cubs do not talk, I guess vocalize as much, but yeah, I couldn't tell you, I'm not going to do the voice of what different sounds sound like, but maybe I'll upload a video of that. But there's probably even more than that, I mean, that scientists haven't distinguished yet. So, along with their behavior, they're actually kind of like loners. These are really cool bears, they're really relaxed, laid back bears. Real loners, for the most part, they don't usually get with other pandas unless they're mating. To go into mating, they're usually ready to mate around 4 to 8 years old, and it's kind of later, I guess, in a way, but the females usually only breed once or get pregnant once a year in the spring, and they usually have a low reproductive rate, which is kind of the problem why they're vulnerable, or kind of the issue, kind of speaks to the issue why they're vulnerable. Like, if they have other problems that separate them on top of that, on top of the fact that they have a low reproductive rate, then how are they going to populate quicker than they're dying? So, the other thing is that usually when they do get pregnant, they use their scent and call to locate a mate during this period, but usually when the mom gets pregnant, she usually only gives birth to one or two cubs. Most of the time, it's one. Fun fact, if they have twins, only one survives, because what the mom ends up doing is selecting whoever's stronger, whoever will actually make it, and then she leaves the other one to die, which is kind of messed up if you think about it, but in all honesty, a lot of animals do that more than we think about, where maybe not intentionally, maybe intentionally, they see you're the weakling, goodbye, and they'll kind of stop nursing them, or some animals, they eat the young, that's the weakling, or they trample them, or whatever the case may be. So, this is no different. The panda doesn't trample it, but it won't take care of it as much, and it sees like you're the weak one. Now, triplets are extremely rare, and I'm pretty sure if they had triplets, it would be the same concept as well, and the idea is that maybe the mom does this because she can only have enough milk for one cub, because she doesn't store fat. Who knows, but hopefully, I don't have to be the weaker sibling, so I guess I got to fight to see whoever's going to get the mom. Now, predators, these are huge animals. Like I said, they are up to 353 pounds, you guys. That being said, there's not much coming for them, okay? If you walk in some 353 pounds or five feet, you think a lot of stuff is going to take it down automatically. Granted, they might have a benefit because they do move kind of slow, but still. Now, that is not to say there's not predators coming for the cubs. The predators that come for the cubs are usually jackals, snow leopards, and a yellow-throated marten. They all can eat, kill, and eat panda cubs. This is also not to say that there's not anything that ever comes after a panda, but it's kind of uncommon. In the wild, they can live 15 to 20 years, and in captivity, they can live 25 to 35 years. Of course, in most animals in captivity, better conditions, you don't have threats, you're getting fed all the time, yada, yada, you get it. Yeah, that's usually the same concept for a lot of animals. Typically, longer in captivity than the wild. They are severely vulnerable, and the reason for that is habitat fragmentation and forest loss. Just like koalas, well, not exactly like koalas, but similar to koalas, if an animal mostly eats one plant, what happens when those plants get taken down, or they're not as hot of a commodity as they were, or there's a gap in the habitat because maybe there was construction or someone tore it down, whatever happened in that area, and so now they have to go further or they have to get to another area to search for food because they mostly eat this one plant. Same concept with koalas and eucalyptus leaves, but that's another fight for another day. Either way, that's the main reason. Now, I also told you before that they are not very reproductive, which is the other problem with habitat loss and habitat fragmentation, is when there's a gap in the habitat and they can't get to the other side or find the females, how will they be able to reproduce? Especially when the female's only having one kid that year, and then I think when the other baby is there, it has to be another two or three years before she can either get pregnant or have another child. When you have that issue already there, and it's already hard enough, plus habitat fragmentation or habitat loss, it's like, well, dang, how am I supposed to... All these obstacles, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, how am I supposed to have a baby cub? That's the main reason that they are vulnerable. We have reached the end. We are going to go through these fun facts. I have three solid facts for you about the giant panda. The first one, which it might not be that big of a surprise, but regardless, the first one, they can swim and climb trees. They're actually pretty good climbers and swimmers, but also a lot of bears can also swim and climb trees. But yeah, they can swim and climb trees. Fun fact, if you didn't know. Second fun fact, which is kind of weird, but hey, I thought it was kind of cool to include, they poop around 40 times a day. That's a lot of... Yeah, that's a lot. And on top of that, sometimes they also do handstands when they pee, and this is more so because they're marching their territory. I guess the concept of when dogs have to pee or march, they say they... Well, male dogs lift their legs up. I guess it's that same concept. Maybe they're doing a handstand, they can mark up higher. I don't really know the anatomy down there to see what exactly is the purpose of the handstand, but yeah, what I read is to mark their territory, but also to pee. Last fun fact of the night, if you didn't know, now you know. They have six fingers. They have six of those, Sean. Six fingers. Their last finger is somewhat like a thumb for them so that they can hold a bamboo and hold anything they need better and get a better grip on it. So they have six, but the five fingers for them is like our four fingers, and then their sixth finger is their thumb. But that is all I have for you today. Thank you for tuning in. Like always, I will see you back in two weeks from now because we're at every other week, every other Friday. If you're not already following, please, please, please, please, please make sure to follow the Wildlife Wonders podcast page on Instagram. That is Wildlife Wonders with an S, podcast, all one word, on Instagram. Look it up also on YouTube. There is one video on there right now. But eventually the other videos from all these episodes will be uploaded onto there. So tune in there as well. Please, if you haven't already, share with a friend. I'll give feedback to how you think this is going, what you like, what you haven't liked, because I love to hear it all so I can better gauge the entertainment and the level of an audience. So that's always nice. You can also message on Instagram and let me know. 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