The Tang Dynasty (618AD to 907AD) began panda diplomacy. According to a Japanese royal yearbook, the Chinese emperor sent the Japanese ruler two white bears and 70 pieces of their fur in 685. They were two giant pandas.
The panda is a bear, native to south central China and part of the family Ursidae. Bamboo shoots make up 99% of its diet. In the wild they will eat other grasses, wild tubers, birds, rodents, or carrion. In captivity, they may eat honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, and bananas.
As a result of deforestation, land development and farming, the giant panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived. The panda is a conservation-reliant vulnerable species. In 2014 there were 49 giant pandas living in captivity outside China. They were living in 18 zoos in 13 countries. One estimate is that there are 1,864 pandas living in the wild. But a 2006 study estimated that the figure could be as high as 2,000. The IUCN reclassified the species in 2016 from endangered to vulnerable.
China’s national symbol has been the dragon, but internationally the giant panda has become the adorable ambassador. As such, it is widely used within China in international contexts. For example, appearing since 1982 on gold panda bullion coins and as one of the five Fuwa mascots of the Beijing Olympics.
About 19 Million years ago, the panda differentiated from the main ursine stock. The giant panda has been referred to as a living fossil as a result. The giant panda has a unique, enlarged, bone called the pseudo thumb which helps them grip the bamboo shoots they eat.
The word panda was borrowed into English from the French. There is a Nepali word, ponya, which possibly refers to the adapted wrist bone of the red panda which is native to Nepal. Since the earliest collection of Chinese writings, the Chinese language has given the bear 20 names. Bear cat or spotted bear or bamboo bear or giant bear cat all suggest what we know as the giant panda.
The giant panda can live 20 years in the wild and up to 30 years in captivity. A female named Jia Jia was the oldest giant panda ever in captivity. She was born in 1978 and died at an age of 38 on October 16, 2016. Giant pandas have luxuriant black-and-white fur and usually are four to six feet long. Average adult weight is 220 to 254 pounds. Females are generally smaller than males.
The average giant panda eats as much as 30 pounds of bamboo shoots each day. Large molars crush and grind fibrous plant material. Bamboo leaves contain the highest protein levels and stems have less. Pandas move from the valleys into the Qinling Mountains and return to the valleys in Autumn. Pandas will travel between different habitats so they can get the nutrients that they need and to balance their diet for reproduction.
Giant pandas are usually solitary. As adults they have a defined territory. After mating the male leaves the female alone to raise the cub. The giant panda reaches sexual maturity between the ages of four and eight and may reproduce until the age 20. The normal rate of reproduction is one young every two years.
I saw pandas at the San Diego Zoo on loan from China when I was there to attend a literacy conference in 1997. The Mom was Bai Yun and her child was Xiao Liwu. They arrived from the Chinese government in 1996 and were taken back to China last year. Up close, I thought they were beautiful creatures. The giant panda is quite magical and entertaining and delightful.
• Story Time and Book Signing for children’s book entitled, “Patsy the Panda” written by Jo Fredell Higgins will be Saturday, June 20 at 10:30 a.m. at the Eola Library Children’s Department. Light refreshments.