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What
sounds do giant pandas make?
Pandas vocalize extensively in social interactions. They
"chirp" during mating and "honk" in distress.
A "bleat," a twittering goat sound, is a friendly
contact call. A "chomp," a rapid opening and closing of
the mouth so the teeth audibly meet, is a mild defensive threat. A
"bark" is used to scare an enemy. A squeal indicates
submission or pain.
What
do they eat?
In the wild, giant pandas eat bamboo almost exclusively. Here at
the Zoo, they are fed bamboo as well as highly nutritious biscuits
and carrots and apples. They are each being fed more than 50
pounds of bamboo a day-about ten times more food than an average
person consumes. They need all that bamboo because bamboo, being a
grass, contains very few nutrients.
What
is the status of giant pandas in the wild, and where do they live?
Giant pandas are a critically endangered species. They are
difficult to census in the wild, but scientists believe there are
about 1,100 remaining in the wild. These individuals live in
scattered populations in central China, mostly in Sichuan
Province, but also in Gansu and Shaanxi Provinces. Giant pandas
specialize in eating bamboo, and so if the temperate bamboo
forests in the mountains of central China continue to be cut down,
there will be no room for giant pandas in the wild. This is why it
is so crucial to support conservation research in China, and why
we need to have a population of giant pandas in zoos as an
insurance policy against extinction. For more details about the
Reserves, enter
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| How
long is the gestation period of a panda?
Panda gestation length ranges from
three to five months, or 90 to 160 days, with an average pregnancy
lasting 135 days. This two-month variation in gestation occurs because
the fertilized panda egg usually floats free in the mother's uterus
before it implants and begins developing. Once the embryo is attached
to the uterine wall, its development continues until a panda is born;
newborn pandas are blind, very small and without almost any fur. In
American black bears, the actual period of time the embryo is
developing after implantation is about eight weeks. Pandas' actual
development time is probably similar. Much of a panda's physical
development occurs after birth.
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