By Loo Jia Huey
Panda bears are found in bamboo forests in the mountains of central China. Because of their striking appearance of black and white and cute, bulky bodies, people worldwide are often attracted to pandas.
Large panda bears can reach the height of 6 feet and can weigh more than 100 kg. Like human beings, females are smaller in size compared to the male panda.
Pandas love eating leaves, shoots, as well as stems of bamboo. In fact, 90 – 98% of their diet consists of these few types of food, but it can be unhealthy for humans to consume a few types of food only.
Even though pandas have gone through adaptations in their forepaws, jaws and teeth, their digestive systems are like their ancestors; therefore, they are unable to digest cellulose, a main constituent of bamboo.
It is quite a shocking fact that pandas spend 16 hours a day eating. Because of their large appetite, pandas can eliminate wastes up to 50 times per day. This unusual lifestyle is different than that of a human’s. For example, humans excrete waste only 1-2 times every day and spend most of their time doing other activities.
Even though pandas are big in size, their newborn young roughly weigh only 1/800 of the mother’s weight. Pandas produce the smallest offspring of any placental mammal. Baby pandas can open their eyes 45 days after birth, and begin to walk 75-80 days after birth. Fourteen months later, after pandas’ milk teeth have erupted, they can then consume bamboo.
The lifespan of captivated pandas can go beyond 30 years, but the lifespan of pandas living in the wild is about 20 years. A one-year-old panda equals a 3 – 4 years old human child.
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