Volunteer to be different
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Help pandas - this endangered species need bamboo to eat |
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Pandas have been having a pretty tough time. If the challenges of nature weren't enough - earthquakes & flooding - mankind has put the boot in as well thanks in part to poaching & illegal logging & trapping & the increase in human population. Pandas are an endangered species, with about 1,600 left in the wild and some 300 in captivity
The panda has hope, thanks to panda reserves and breeding centres such as Wolong in the Sichuan province of China. But they need lots of bamboo. |
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Pandas have a need: BAMBOO!
Bamboo is the main food pandas eat - it's vital for both captive & wild Giant Pandas. Pandas eat 42 species of bamboo, so multiple species of the stuff need to be grown. It is thought that differnt bamboo gives various nutritional benefits, and of course individual pandas seem to prefer some sorts of bamboo over others. Each species has a life cycle lasting anywhere from 20 to 40 years. Pandas need to be able to eat or move to different areas when the bamboo dies off & stops flowering. Pandas have been found in various states of starvation having had no bamboo to eat when this happens.
Adult pandas need 20-88 pounds of bamboo a day, depending on what parts of the bamboo they eat, whether they tuck into stems, leaves or shoots. Most prefer shoots.
The consequences for pandas of not having enough bamboo to eat aren't good. Their health could decline, they could fall ill, and more seriously still, they could face starvation and possibly death. |
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Why are pandas endangered?
One of the reasons is the lack of bamboo... The pandas' forests are being taken over by human populations who are using them for agriculture, ranching, logging, trapping and human settlement. These activities are pushing pandas higher into the mountains.
Bamboo grows under the shade cover of the large fir trees which are disappearing thanks to logging & clearing land for agriculture. The Chinese government does ban logging in the 40 panda reserves (which include both nature reserves giving safe habitat for wild pandas, and scientific research centres to study the pandas' behaviour & to breed captive pandas).
The quake in 2008 buried much of the bamboo under rock & mudslides. And the earthquake's movement & aftershocks are thought to have affected plant growth & development |
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Can you help save the pandas by giving them the bamboo they need?
A new site in the Wolong Nature Reserve has been chosen for the purpose of planting bamboo and farmers are ready to go ahead and plant for pandas. However, conservation efforts don't come cheap. The charity Pandas International raises funds for the panda conservation and it has launched a campaign to raise $100,000 by the end of 2011. It costs $3,080 to plant one acre of bamboo seedlings.
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The Giant Panda used to be far more commonly found in southern and eastern China, Vietnam and Myanmar (Burma). Now this wonderful animal is restricted to the mountains to the mountains in a few Chinese provinces in southwestern China, particularly the Sichuan Province, but also Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. Their range is along the eastern rim of the Tibetan Plateau. |
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Today there are 40 panda reserves in China. Some are Nature Reserves providing safe habitat for wild pandas, like a national park. Other reserves protect the wild pandas while having scientific research centers to study the behavior and for breeding captive pandas.
In addition, the panda's future is hindered by other factors...
Please help pandas today by donating to the Bamboo fund |
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