Zoo Animals: Panda Bears, Baby Pandas And Wildlife Conservation

Zoos are fun, family attractions. Visitors to any local zoo will find an abundance of diverse animal habitats. Bats, reptiles, giraffes and polar bears are among the many popular zoo animals and attractions. One of the rarest zoo animals is the giant panda. The giant panda is one of nature's most interesting species, but it is also an endangered one.

Pandas are large mammals belonging to the bear family.

They have white and black fur, large bodies, short tails and rounded ears. They also have paws with four fingers and a thumb. A baby panda is known as a cub. A baby panda is born blind; and the cubs are very little in size. Although male pandas can grow as large as 253 pounds, females are usually smaller, weighing a maximum of about 220 pounds. A panda in captivity can live 20-30 years, though the majority of giant pandas live in the wild.

Panda bears are technically classified as carnivores, though their diet is almost all bamboo. Because bamboo provides little protein and other nutrients, pandas eat between 20 and 30 pounds of bamboo a day to maintain a full stomach. They are also known to eat honey, eggs, fish and even yams as supplements to the bamboo. This diet is also one reason panda bears do not hibernate. Their food source, bamboo, is not nutritious enough to sustain life for an entire winter. There is another reason panda bears do not hibernate as the main bear population hibernates. The differentiating factor is their habitats have food available all year.

Nearly 2,000 pandas are known to exist in the wild, with another small population in captivity. Most of the wild population resides in southwest China, though there are also many captive pandas all over the globe. There are only four zoos in the United States currently housing pandas. The San Diego Zoo, US National Zoo, Zoo Atlanta and Memphis Zoo are the current homes for pandas in America.

Even though current trends show an increase in the number of pandas in the wild, wildlife conservation groups are working to help the endangered species. Protecting pandas from poachers and habitat loss is the main focus of creating reserves. These reserves, created with help from the World Wildlife Fund, are hoping to create a better quality of life for existing pandas. The World Wildlife Fund reports that as of mid-2005, there were 50 panda preserves in China, serving approximately 45% of the panda population Though wildlife conservation efforts will help the panda population grow, a low birth rate will remain a problem. Low birth rates are shown in both pandas in the wild and in captivity. When a mother has two cubs, she is only able to care for one. The other cub is left to die, since it cannot gain the undivided attention of its mother.

Due to their rarity, pandas are one of the most exciting bear species. Visitors to many U.S. zoos will never see pandas among the zoo animals. Pandas are an endangered species, and only available for viewing in four U.S. zoos. The pandas are hoping to become more populated as the wildlife conservation reserves in China create safer environments in which they can live.

Sources:
Boubel, Gregory. "The Panda Bear." Worldkids.net. 1996. EAC. 20 Aug. 2007. htt p://www.worldkids.net/eac/panda.html.

Panda." Wikipedia. 18 Aug. 2007. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 20 Aug 2007. http://en.wikipedia - Giant Panda." 23 Jul. 2007. WWF. 20 Aug. 2007. WWF. 20 Aug. 2007. http://www.panda.org/news_fa />