Wei, F.; Thapa, A.; Hu, Y. & Zhang, Z. (2021). "Red Panda ecology". In Glatston, A. R. (ed.). Red Panda: Biology and Conservation of the First Panda (Seconded.). London: Academic Press. pp.329–351. ISBN 978-0-12-823753-3. In the 1970s, gifts of giant pandas to American and Japanese zoos formed an important part of the diplomacy of the People's Republic of China (PRC), as it marked some of the first cultural exchanges between China and the West. This practice has been termed "panda diplomacy". [123] Giant pandas no longer endangered in the wild, China announces". the Guardian. 2021. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021 . Retrieved 9 July 2021. Dalui, S.; Singh, S. K.; Joshi, B. D.; Ghosh, A.; Basu, S.; Khatri, H.; Sharma, L. K.; Chandra, K. & Thakur, M. (2021). "Geological and Pleistocene glaciations explain the demography and disjunct distribution of Red Panda ( A. fulgens) in eastern Himalayas". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 65. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-80586-6. PMC 7794540. PMID 33420314. Giant panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca". Animal Fact Guide. 2011. Archived from the original on 14 September 2011 . Retrieved 19 September 2011.

Panda Ears - Etsy

A red panda anti-poaching unit and community-based monitoring have been established in Langtang National Park. Members of Community Forest User Groups also protect and monitor red panda habitats in other parts of Nepal. [90] Community outreach programs have been initiated in eastern Nepal using information boards, radio broadcasting and the annual International Red Panda Day in September; several schools endorsed a red panda conservation manual as part of their curricula. [91] Later and more advanced ailurids are classified in the subfamily Ailurinae and are known as the "true" red pandas. These animals were smaller and more adapted for an omnivorous or herbivorous diet. The earliest known true panda is Magerictis from the Middle Miocene of Spain and known only from one tooth, a lower second molar. The tooth shows both ancestral and new characteristics having a relatively low and simple crown but also a lengthened crushing surface with developed tooth cusps like later species. [21] Later ailurines include Pristinailurus bristoli which lived in eastern North America from the late Miocene to the Early Pliocene [21] [22] and species of the genus Parailurus which first appear in Early Pliocene Europe, spreading across Eurasia into North America. [21] [23] These animals are classified as a sister taxon to the lineage of the modern red panda. In contrast to the herbivorous modern species, these ancient pandas were likely omnivores, with highly cusped molars and sharp premolars. [21] [22] [24] Community-based conservation programmes have been initiated in Nepal, Bhutan and northeastern India; in China, it benefits from nature conservation projects. Regional captive breeding programmes for the red panda have been established in zoos around the world. It is featured in animated movies, video games, comic books and as the namesake of companies and music bands. Su, B.; Fu, Y.; Wang, Y.; Jin, L. & Chakraborty, R. (2001). "Genetic diversity and population history of the Red Panda ( Ailurus fulgens) as inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequence variations". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 18 (6): 1070–1076. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a003878. PMID 11371595.

Furry fossils

O'Brien, S.J.; Nash, W.G.; Wildt, D.E.; Bush, M.E. & Benveniste, R.E. (1985). "A molecular solution to the riddle of the giant panda's phylogeny". Nature. 317 (6033): 140–144. Bibcode: 1985Natur.317..140O. doi: 10.1038/317140a0. PMID 4033795. S2CID 4352629. Scheff, D. (2002). Giant Pandas. Animals of the rain forest (illustrateded.). Heinemann-Raintree Library. p.8. ISBN 0-7398-5529-8. Giant pandas reach sexual maturity between the ages of four and eight, and may be reproductive until age 20. [100] The mating season is between March and May, when a female goes into estrus, which lasts for two or three days and only occurs once a year. [101] When mating, the female is in a crouching, head-down position as the male mounts her from behind. Copulation time ranges from 30 seconds to five minutes, but the male may mount her repeatedly to ensure successful fertilisation. The gestation period is somewhere between 95 and 160 days - the variability is due to the fact that the fertilized egg may linger in the reproductive system for a while before implanting on the uterine wall. [101]

Panda Bear - Description, Habitat, Image, Diet, and Panda Bear - Description, Habitat, Image, Diet, and

a b c Dorji, S.; Rajaratnam, R. & Vernes, K. (2012). "The Vulnerable Red Panda Ailurus fulgens in Bhutan: distribution, conservation, status and management recommendations". Oryx. 46 (4): 536–543. doi: 10.1017/S0030605311000780. S2CID 84332758. a b Zhou, X.; Jiao, H.; Dou, Y.; Aryal, A.; Hu, J.; Hu, J. & Meng, X. (2013). "The winter habitat selection of Red Panda ( Ailurus fulgens) in the Meigu Dafengding National Nature Reserve, China" (PDF). Current Science. 105 (10): 1425–1429. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 March 2022 . Retrieved 18 March 2022. Despite its taxonomic classification as a carnivoran, the giant panda's diet is primarily herbivorous, consisting almost exclusively of bamboo. [52] However, the giant panda still has the digestive system of a carnivore, as well as carnivore-specific genes, [56] and thus derives little energy and little protein from consumption of bamboo. The ability to break down cellulose and lignin is very weak, and their main source of nutrients comes from starch and hemicelluloses. The most important part of their bamboo diet is the shoots, that are rich in starch which they have a higher capability to digest than strict carnivores, and have up to 32% protein content. [57] [58] During the shoot season, which lasts from April to August, they put on a lot of weight, which allows them to get through the nutrient-scarce period from late August to April, when they feed mostly on bamboo leaves. [59] Pandas are born with sterile intestines and require bacteria obtained from their mother's feces to digest vegetation. [60] The giant panda is a highly specialised animal with unique adaptations, and has lived in bamboo forests for millions of years. [61] In 2020, results of a genetic analysis of red panda samples showed that the red panda populations in the Himalayas and China were separated about 250,000 years ago. The researchers suggested that the two subspecies should be treated as distinct species. Red pandas in southeastern Tibet and northern Myanmar were found to be part of styani, while those of southern Tibet were of fulgens in the strict sense. [12] DNA sequencing of 132 red panda faecal samples collected in Northeast India and China also showed two distinct clusters indicating that the Siang River constitutes the boundary between the Himalayan and Chinese red pandas. [13] They probably diverged due to glaciation events on the southern Tibetan Plateau in the Pleistocene. [14] Phylogeny In 1963, the PRC government set up Wolong National Nature Reserve to save the declining panda population. [135] However, few advances in the conservation of pandas were made at the time, owing to inexperience and insufficient knowledge of ecology. Many believed the best way to save the pandas was to cage them. Because of the destruction of their natural habitat, along with segregation caused by caging, reproduction of wild pandas was severely limited. In the 1990s, however, several laws (including gun control and the removal of resident humans from the reserves) helped their chances of survival. With these renewed efforts and improved conservation methods, wild pandas have started to increase in numbers in some areas, though they still are classified as a rare species. [ citation needed]The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan, and also in neighbouring Shaanxi and Gansu. [8] As a result of farming, deforestation, and other development, the giant panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived, and it is a conservation-reliant vulnerable species. [9] [10] A 2007 report showed 239 pandas living in captivity inside China and another 27 outside the country. [11] By December 2014, 49 giant pandas lived in captivity outside China, living in 18 zoos in 13 countries. [12] Wild population estimates vary; one estimate shows that there are about 1,590 individuals living in the wild, [11] while a 2006 study via DNA analysis estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000 to 3,000. [13] Some reports also show that the number of giant pandas in the wild is on the rise. [14] By March 2015, the wild giant panda population had increased to 1,864 individuals. [15] In 2016, it was reclassified on the IUCN Red List from "endangered" to "vulnerable", [1] affirming decade-long efforts to save the panda. In July 2021, Chinese authorities also reclassified the giant panda as vulnerable. [16] a b Dorji, S.; Vernes, K. & Rajaratnam, R. (2011). "Habitat correlates of the Red Panda in the temperate forests of Bhutan". PLOS ONE. 6 (10): e26483. Bibcode: 2011PLoSO...626483D. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0026483. PMC 3198399. PMID 22039497. Shrestha, S.; Lama, S.; Sherpa, A. P.; Ghale, D. & Lama, S. T. (2021). "The endangered Himalayan Red Panda: first photographic evidence from its westernmost distribution range". Journal of Threatened Taxa. 13 (5): 18156–18163. doi: 10.11609/jott.6100.13.5.18156-18163. Antón, M.; Salesa, M. J.; Pastor, J. F.; Peigné, S. & Morales, J. (2006). "Implications of the functional anatomy of the hand and forearm of Ailurus fulgens (Carnivora, Ailuridae) for the evolution of the 'false-thumb' in pandas". Journal of Anatomy. 209 (6): 757–764. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2006.00649.x. PMC 2049003. PMID 17118063. Chi Chi at the London Zoo became very popular. This influenced the World Wildlife Fund to use a panda as its symbol. [131]

Giant panda - Wikipedia

Scheff, Duncan (2002). Giant Pandas. Animals of the rain forest (illustrateded.). Heinemann-Raintree Library. p.7. ISBN 0-7398-5529-8. The giant panda has often served as China's national symbol, appeared on Chinese Gold Panda coins since 1982 and as one of the five Fuwa mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing. Bista, D. (2018). "Communities in frontline in Red Panda conservation, eastern Nepal" (PDF). The Himalayan Naturalist. 1 (1): 11–12. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 January 2022 . Retrieved 27 January 2022.

Turning red. Or black and white?

Pandas have been kept in zoos as early as the Western Han Dynasty in China, where the writer Sima Xiangru noted that the panda was the most treasured animal in the emperor's garden of exotic animals in the capital Chang'an (present Xi'an). Not until the 1950s were pandas again recorded to have been exhibited in China's zoos. [130] Bashir, T.; Bhattacharya, T.; Poudyal, K. & Sathyakumar, S. (2019). "First camera trap record of Red Panda Ailurus fulgens (Cuvier, 1825) (Mammalia: Carnivora: Ailuridae) from Khangchendzonga, Sikkim, India". Journal of Threatened Taxa. 11 (8): 14056–14061. doi: 10.11609/jott.4626.11.8.14056-14061. Hu, Y.; Wu, Q.; Ma, S.; Ma, T.; Shan, L.; Wang, X.; Nie, Y.; Ning, Z.; Yan, L.; Xiu, Y. & Wei, F. (2017). "Comparative genomics reveals convergent evolution between the bamboo-eating giant and red pandas". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 114 (5): 1081–1086. Bibcode: 2017PNAS..114.1081H. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1613870114. PMC 5293045. PMID 28096377.