Great panda from the Red Book: photo, description

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:45

The Giant Panda from the Red Book is a fairly rare animal that is currently on the verge of extinction. The extraordinary teddy bear is the official symbol of the well-known animal welfare organization.

Red Book

The Red Book is an illustrated encyclopedia that lists the representatives of the environment that are on the verge of extinction. It first appeared in 1902 in Paris. At this time, a number of countries signed an agreement on the creation of the first of its kind Red Book. In honor of this, the first international convention for the protection of birds was held, which, in fact, became the first official agreement on the protection of animals.

Later, in 1948, the International Union for Conservation of Nature was born. It included 502 organizations from 130 countries. At the conventions held, the strategy for nature protection and further actions were discussed. To date, the headquarters of the organization, which employs about a hundred people, is located in Switzerland. Its activities extend to the conservation of endangered species, as well as to the managementsystems of environmental legislation. This organization - the creator of the Red Book - strives to ensure that all decisions on environmental activities are based solely on a scientific point of view.

Later, in 1949, a specialized commission on rare species of animals was created, and its task was to study the rarest species of animals, as well as plants that were at that time on the verge of extinction. At that time, the giant panda had not yet been included in this list. An animal listed in the Red Book should have been represented by a population of less than 1000 individuals.

Today, the organization's employees develop and prepare projects for subsequent international conventions. The main goal of the Red Book is to create a world list of animals that are soon threatened with complete extinction. In 1963, the first printed edition of the book appeared. 2 volumes contained information about 211 mammals and 312 birds. Outwardly, the publication looked more like a calendar, each sheet of which was dedicated to a separate species. Initially, it was assumed that, as needed, the pages would be taken out of the book and replaced with new ones, with more recent reports, but later this idea was abandoned.

The giant panda is a strange child of nature

The Giant Panda is a quiet cute creature dressed in black and white. In addition to being considered a national symbol of the Wildlife Fund, bamboo bears are considered a national treasure of China.

Despite everythingattention paid to these animals today, they are endangered. Of course, the main danger is man, since pandas have practically no enemies in nature. Now in the wild there are about one and a half thousand individuals of this amazing creature. The giant panda from the Red Book is the rarest representative of the bear family. They live mainly in bamboo forests or high in the mountains. A panda eats from 12 to 38 kg of food per day. In order to find such an amount of food, the black and white bear has to get fruits and other supplies from the most inaccessible places. To do this, nature endowed them with an enlarged bone on the wrists, which function like thumbs in humans.

History

The first fossil evidence of the existence of pandas on Earth, about 3 million years old. During the Pleistocene period, which was more than 18,000 years ago, a giant glacier covered the entire Northern Hemisphere, thereby forcing the ancestors of pandas to move south. So bamboo bears first appeared in areas of China, where they began to develop.

Description

Despite the fact that the weight of an adult panda can reach 106 kg, this does not prevent the animal from climbing trees deftly. The giant panda, or bamboo bear, is 1.5 meters long (excluding the tail). By color, nature endowed them with unusual "glasses" of black color around the eyes. The nose, lips and limbs are also painted dark, while the rest of the body is white.

In somein Chinese provinces, such as Sichuan, you can meet a panda with a reddish tint. The giant panda from the Red Book lives at an altitude of 2700 to 3900 meters above sea level, but during the cold season it usually descends to 800 meters.

Food

The giant panda feeds mainly on bamboo, although sometimes it includes other plants in its diet, such as saffron, irises, and sometimes does not disdain mammals. It takes a black and white bear up to 12 hours a day to eat. The giant panda from the Red Book eats sitting and slowly chews bamboo shoots, after stripping the hard outer layer from the plant.

Sixth finger

Pandas are known to have a sixth toe, which is not actually hemologous to the species. The process was formed as a result of deformation of one of the bones on the wrist.

This fact is still being studied by specialists, and scientists continue to conduct research regarding the species of black and white bears, and also discuss in which section they should be displayed in the international Red Book. The giant panda is generally the subject of much controversy among biologists.

Classification

For many years there have been discussions about whether the panda could be in the raccoon or bear family. There was also discussion about the possibility of assigning a personal family to bamboo bears, which would be called “panda bears”. However, after conducting molecular analyzes, scientists came to the conclusion that panda DNA is most similar tocellular structure of bears. According to the tests, it was also revealed that these animals separated from the usual clubfoot about 15-25 million years ago. Since the bamboo bear appeared in what is known as the International Red Book, the giant panda has become the subject of even greater scrutiny.

Reproduction

Pandas mate exclusively in spring. Pregnancy in females lasts approximately 5 months. This uncertainty is due to the fact that sometimes the implantation of the embryo in the uterus is delayed. After 5-6 months, up to 3 cubs are born. True, in the end, only one baby survives.

Animals reach sexual maturity at the age of 6 years. Given the fact that the life expectancy of bamboo bears is 14 years, it is not surprising that the panda is now a rare animal in the Red Book. On top of that, females are only capable of breeding for a few days a year. During this period, pandas completely change and turn from cute teddy bears into aggressive tyrants. Therefore, during the mating season, males do not see anything around, but only try to win the attention of a beautiful female. Arranging fights, rivals can bite, scratch and fight not for life, but for death. The loser may be left without a pair until next year. But this does not mean that the winner takes everything, since the female may well refuse the winning male if she is not sure that she will receive he althy and strong offspring from him.

AnimalsRed Book: giant panda

This species is today on the verge of extinction and is officially listed in the Red Book. According to the most reliable data, in the mid-90s there were less than 1000 individuals in the world. And this despite the fact that in China there are quite strict laws regarding the killing of a panda. For such a crime, the only sentence was the death pen alty.

But alas, despite all the strictness towards poachers, the giant panda continued to be destroyed because of its unusual fur. The Red Book, whose announcement of the extinction of these animals literally shocked the "greens", paid great attention to bamboo bears in the latest edition.

Lifestyle

Although pandas are predators, like their relatives bears, the basis of their diet is vegetarian food. But nevertheless, animals still need protein, which can be obtained exclusively from animal food.

Most of the day the panda eats, the rest of the time he sleeps. This more than relaxed lifestyle makes funny bears perfect models for tourists, who post thousands of adorable photos all over the Internet.

Bamboo bears sleep mainly on trees, although in moments of laziness they can also settle on the ground. Despite their clumsiness, pandas are excellent tree climbers.

In closing

Today, pandas are protected. Killing these animals may result inquite serious consequences. In addition, pandas are on the verge of extinction due to the fact that their natural habitat is gradually being destroyed by man. To reduce risks and keep unusual bears in the wild, the heads of Chinese provinces are working hard to create specialized reserves for pandas.