О большой и малой панде миру стало известно only at the end of the nineteenth century, despite the fact that they are very ancient and rare animals. Since the discovery began the study of these interesting and unusual animals. But after two centuries of constant research, much about these mammals still remains a mystery. Scientists can not come to a common opinion about the class of these animals. This problem is further aggravated by the fact that these two species have many differences among themselves. Therefore, at present one can hear a large number of discussions on the topic: “Is a panda a bear or a raccoon?”
Description of the big "bamboo bear"
This type of animal is usually referred to the class.mammals, the order of predators, the raccoon family and the panda subfamily. But not so long ago, an Australian researcher E. Tennius conducted a series of morphological, cardiological, ethological, and biochemical analyzes. According to the results, the scientist found that of the sixteen characteristics of five big panda is a raccoon, and the remaining twelve are peculiar only to her.
If you look at the look of this animal,then the big panda is undoubtedly more like bears, for it’s not for nothing that they also call it “bamboo bear”. She has a massive body that is completely covered with thick fur. Its length varies from 1.1 to 1.9 meters, and weight - from 75 to 140 kilograms. Thick and short legs of this animal end with massive paws with large claws.
Если внимательно присмотреться к подошве, то You can see that on it and near each finger there are peculiar pads that serve the animal to keep smooth and slippery bamboo stalks.
Unlike a bear, this beast has a tail,whose length reaches 13 cm, and teeth with a different structure. On the panda's premolars, you can see protrusions and bumps that none of the other bears have, and its head is massive and dull with large erect ears.
A description of a panda of this kind says that it haswhite color with black spots, black legs and tail of the same color, characteristic of her eyes. And although it looks like a bear by its appearance, nevertheless, some features of its anatomy made scientists doubt it. In their opinion, the panda is a representative of the raccoon family, and some even singled it out into a special class of mammals.
What does the small look of these interesting animals look like?
This species, according to scientists, refers toraccoon, because it has the same tail with a striped color, a similar muzzle, as well as the shape of the skull and the structure of the teeth. Although its discoverers were inclined to believe that the small panda is generally a cat with a fiery red color. This animal also has two subspecies - Western and Chinese.
This animal, unlike its largerelatives, has a body whose length reaches a maximum of 67 cm, with a tail up to 47 cm and a mass not exceeding 6 kg. Therefore, if you answer the question: "Is the panda a bear or not?", Then we can safely say that the small species of these animals with red color refers more to raccoons, and not bears.
Spread
Big pandas live in the highlands inthe heart of China. Their home are the regions of Sichuan and Tibet. Their whole life passes in forests, where mainly bamboo grows, they are located at an altitude of 1500-4600 m above sea level. In this area there are fairly mild climatic conditions and all seasons of the year are pronounced. In addition, these animals live in many centers and zoos, where they continue to explore and explore. Under conditions of bondage, their life span reaches 27 years, and in the wild, even shorter.
The red panda lives in China, Nepal, Bhutan andMyanmar. She lives, like her big relative, in the mountainous area at an altitude of 4800 m. This small animal inhabits the forests of the state of Assam, as well as the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan. This animal lives in 86 zoos of the world.
Despite the fact that large and small species differ significantly from each other in appearance and scientists believe that one panda is a bear and the other is a raccoon, they lead the same way of life.
Behavior
These animals mostly live alone.The only exception can be considered the marriage period and the time of raising their cubs. Mature individuals live in an area of about five square meters, which is much smaller than that of bears. In order to indicate their presence, they can use tags with a specific smell.
The big panda, unlike the small one, is active inany time of the day or night. The redhead of her congener is nocturnal, and in the daytime he sleeps in the crowns of the trees, curled up in a ball and resting his head on his large striped tail.
Food
Numerous and dense thickets of bamboo is foodfor both big and small panda. Thirty species of this plant make up about 99 percent of their diet. They also willingly eat all kinds of berries, fruits, seeds and acorns. Sometimes they can even hunt small birds, reptiles and rodents.
In captivity, they are fed with the same bamboo, as well as sponge cakes and insect larvae. A panda is an animal that is one of the few that can consume food in any position of its body, and even lying down.
Reproduction
Individuals of two species reach their sexual maturitycloser to five years, and begin to mate only seven. Females in their mating period, which ranges from two days to a week, make loud sounds and actively emit a specific smell.
After this comes the pregnancy, whichlasts in these animals on average five months. Usually, one or two naked cubs weighing no more than 200 grams and 14 to 16 cm long are born, just like brown bears. Although scientists still have not come to an unequivocal conclusion about whether the panda is a bear or not, the breeding process of these two animals is of a similar nature.
Offspring
At birth, their cubs, like allbear species, helpless and blind. The female raises her small puppies herself and treats them very carefully and with special care. For several days after their birth, she does not leave the hole for a minute, even to eat or drink. Mother puts her cubs to breast for fifteen times a day, and one feeding can have a duration of about half an hour.
The panda most often appears at birthtwins, but after some time the female chooses the strongest baby from them and continues to take care of him, and the second one, respectively, dies without supervision. The lactation period in these animals lasts about 45 weeks, and the young remain with their mothers until they reach three years of age.
Interesting Facts
It turns out that for the first time when scientists conductedstudies on a large species of these animals, they could not understand for a long time, the panda is who, what kind of animal. A little later, they came to the conclusion that she is a raccoon, but only of enormous size.
After some time, other experts disproved this opinion, because with the help of a genetic test, it was possible to establish that this species of animals has more to do with bears.
As for the red pandas, many scientists have generally written them down to a pine-like species, which consists of a family of weasels, as well as raccoon and skunk.
Although, according to most researchers, thesetwo subspecies and belong to different classes, yet they also have a certain similarity with each other. For example, both pandas have a sixth "pseudo-finger" located on their front paws. It is substantially more than five others. In fact, this part of the body is a cartila bone covered with skin. Such a structure helps animals to better hold bamboo plants.
Conservation status
Unfortunately, pandas are on the verge of completedisappearances, therefore, are on the lists of the International Red Book. This happens for many reasons. Red live panda does not represent for people of such great interest as her fur. Because of this, she was constantly hunting, especially in Nepal. But lately, the number of this species began to gradually recover.
Big pandas are also protected by law, according to which the extermination of this animal will be punishable by death or life in prison.
Although this beast was discovered several centuries agoago, and in 1912 even became the national treasure of the PRC (according to the legislation of this Republic), but scientists still cannot come to the unequivocal conclusion that the panda is a bear or a raccoon. Therefore, research on this animal continues to this day.
