Giant pandas are bears that are native to China, where they are considered a national treasure. Despite their exalted status, giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) populations are vulnerable: fewer than 1,900 live in the wild, according to the Smithsonian National Zoo. About 300 live in zoos around the world.
For the most part, giant pandas are loners. They dislike being around other pandas so much that they have a heightened sense of smell that lets them know when another panda is nearby so it can be avoided, according to the National Geographic. If they do come in contact with one another they’ll growl, swat and bite each other until one gives up and leaves.
On average, a giant panda’s territory is about 1.9 square miles (5 square kilometers). To mark their territory, giant pandas secrete a waxy scent marker from a scent gland underneath their tail. Other giant pandas can likely tell the sex, age, reproductive condition, social status and more by sniffing the potent marker, according to the San Diego Zoo.
The only time that giant pandas seek each other out is during their spring mating season. Males will use their sensitive smelling ability to sniff out a female when ready to mate. Females mate every two to three years.
Male pandas, like many other mammals (but not humans) have a baculum, a bony rod in the soft tissue of the penis. In most bears, it is straight and directed forward. However, in giant pandas, it is S-shaped and directed backward, according to the Animal Diversity Web.
The average gestation time is 135 days, but ranges between 100 and 180 days. Females give birth to one or two cubs (although the second cub usually doesn’t survive) that only weigh 3 to 5 ounces (85 to 142 grams) and are about the size of a stick of butter, according to the San Diego Zoo. The cubs are completely blind for about 50 to 60 days and begin crawling at about 10 weeks of age.
Credit : Live Science
Picture Credit : Google
