AnitaKathleen

So you think Giant Pandas are just animals that are cool looking right? WRONG. I am a Giant Panda, and although my black and white patches may be visually appealing to many, there's more to me than just these legendary patterns. The entire Giant Panda has been having a lot of survival problems caused both naturally and by man. This is mostly caused by man due to our habitat decline, and this has been going on since even the 1930's. More people are starting to realize this problem, and more reservations and rescue areas are being set up to help us. Our disappearance would cause problems as well. Since 99% of our diet is bamboo, if we became extinct then there would be a bamboo overload.
Some problems we face are simply natural. Low breeding rates is one example. Our breeding season is very short and only happens once a year. So if we aren't able to find a mate in this short time, then we will not mate and soon reproduce. If we do though, only 1-2 baby cubs are born at a time, and the mom will only care for one of the cubs. The other cub most likely will not survive for much longer because they are very dependent on their mother during their first few years.
Us Giant Pandas are mammals related to both the raccoon and the bear, but we are closer to the bear. We do not hibernate though, as many bears do. Our scientific name is Ailuropoda melanoleuca, literally meaning "cat-foot black-and-white". We only live in the mountains of China mainly in Sichuan, and we were discovered in 1869. At birth, we are extremely small, but as we mature we can grow to be 3 ft. tall and 300 lbs. (average). Females are generally 10-20% smaller than males. A cool fact about us is that we actually have six fingers, including our thumb. Unlike humans who have four fingers and a thumb, we have five fingers and a thumb. This helps us hold bamboo while we eat. We can be considered nomads because we spend most of our life roaming around looking for food and such.
To conserve pandas, many reservations have been set up around the world. Most are in China. Some include the Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries and the Wolong National Nature Reserve. We need to stop destroying so many forests and nature areas. Not only is it bad for the giant panda and many other animals, but it's also bad for humans as well. A small percentage of pandas are also hunted and killed especially for their skins. This is illegal but there are people who still do this. If everyone works together to car for this animal, we should be able to get it off the endangered species list. We are the only hope for the Giant Panda.