The black and white cat-foot, conventionally known as the Giant Panda, a representative of the endangered species and the logo of World Wildlife Fund is the rarest member of the bear family. The mountain ranges in the provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu in south-central China shelter these magnificent creatures pertaining to the broadleaf and coniferous forests with a dense coppice of bamboo, essential for their survival. These large bear cats are one of the world's most endangered species with about a thousand of them left in the wild including 140 in captivity, as per the Smithsonian National Zoological Park.

Physical Appearance

The Giant Panda is almost the size of an American black bear and stands approximately two to three feet in height and stretches about four to six feet long. Females are generally undersized as compared to males barely reaching 220 pounds wherein the latter can weigh up to 250 pounds in the wild. They adorn a thick and woolly fur, with a bold combination of black and white and have typical distinctive features. The paws, ears, eye patches, legs, muzzle and shoulders are covered with glistening black and the rest with snowy white. Pandas have large, flat molars and robust jaws, facilitating the crushing of tenacious bamboo. They have a substantial covering of mucus on the gut protecting them from shaft splinters. The forepaws have an extra thumb providing a tight grip on the bamboo shaft. Their lifespan protracts up to about 20 years in the wild and 30 in captivity.

Behavior

These bamboo-eating mammals are terrestrial and solitary varmints with defined territories and minimal tolerance for each other in their pronounced terrain. They spend most of their life feeding and gallivanting. Pandas communicate intermittently by virtue of scent-marking such as clawing trees or spraying urine, commotion and occasional meetings. Cordial concurrence occurs during the brief mating season after which the female is left alone to nurse the cub. They are competent enough to climb hollow trees and acquire shelter from fissures in the rocks. They do not secure continual dens and do not hibernate like other bears but move to alternative pedestals in search of balmy conditions like other subtropical mammals and rely on commodious memory than visual memory.

Eating Habits

Giant pandas not only attain shelter from bamboo trees but feast on them too, making it their principal diet. They are classified as carnivorous mammals, because of which they have reduced ability to digest plant matter, leading to unsubstantial generation of nutrition and hence increased consumption. They eat for about fourteen hours a day and devour up to approximately 38 kilograms of bamboo. Various parts of the plant are consumed accruing to the season. They munch on leaves in summer and autumn, winter brings in a diet of tough stems and spring accounts for tender, young bamboo. They nibble on bulbs, fruits, grass, insects, and even rodents sometimes, as an alternative to it. To avoid squandering of energy, they limit their social interaction and avert arduous sloping contours.

Reproduction

Giant Pandas attain maturity between 4-7 years of age, and can reproduce till the age of twenty. Females are capable of reproduction only for seventy-two hours a year since they ovulate only once during March and May - their breeding season. Calls and scent acts as the medium for drawing them to each other. After conceiving, the gestation period ranges between 95-160 days. The female can give birth to two cubs of which usually just one survives. The newborn cubs are like small white rats, about six inches long and weigh somewhere around 3.7 pounds. They are born helpless and blind, are nursed and raised by the mother frivolously to an extent where the mother does not leave the cub unattended, and does not leave the den for just anything for the initial couple of days. They are nurtured and aided by the mother and stay with her till about the age of three after which they are left to strike out on their own.

China is the haven for this majestic yet endangered spices - The Giant Panda, nurturing them with an apt surrounding and habitat essential for their viability. The economic and structural development of the country which is home to what is left of these creatures is posing a major problem for their survival; pertaining to the rapid depletion of their habitat to make room for the ever-growing population. Poaching and hunting adds on to the cause, with traps being laid for other animals, often entangling the pandas, resulting in their death. Apart from these manmade problems, nature does not help either. The reproductive growth of these giant bears is very low with females giving birth to just one or two cubs a year. As if this was not enough, the staple diet of these bears that is bamboo, grows at a very slow rate, with the mature plant dying after flowering and seeding. A coherent effort is demanded to save this imperial creature from becoming extinct.

Sled dogs or sledge dogs are a distinct breed of dogs, known for their superb running speed. These dogs have been used for sledge racing at popular North American and European sports festivals where teams compete to see which team of dogs is the fastest. The practice of using packs of dogs for traveling and hunting can be traced and recorded far back to the 10th century, and may be even before. The oldest and the rarest breed of sled dog is the Canadian Eskimo breed, which is a pure breed found mainly in North America. This dog has a typical wolf-like appearance and has a very muscular built.


Dogs accompanied humans when they migrated into North America almost 15,000 years ago. Dogs were an essential part of the Native American culture and were kept as pets, and used for help in traveling, protection, and hunting purposes. Later on when the Europeans encroached into the Native lands, this practice was adopted by the newcomers as well. When the Gold Rush began in 1896, the number of gold aspirants increased in large numbers. The terrains were highly inaccessible during winters, making it extremely difficult for humans to travel on foot. This is where the sled dogs came to the travelers rescue. These teams of dogs helped transport people, supplies, the injured and the ill, and even helped carry mail.

However, with the advent of technology and modernization, the sled dogs were no longer required for such purposes and instead were increasingly used for recreational sledge racing. This is how the sled dog era actually took off in a big way. In 1925, an Alaskan town called Nome, had an outbreak of diphtheria. The town did not have the medicine needed to cure this deadly disease, and the only place the medication was available was a thousand miles away in the town Anchorage. A team of twenty sled dogs and mushers were dispatched to collect the medication. The team of sleds reached Anchorage after running for six days, with very few resting breaks. This mission helped save many lives in Nome.




Overworking these dogs, amounts to animal cruelty and must be monitored by animal right groups and citizens. Sled racing is a barbaric act and must be either controlled and restricted or completely banned. These races have thousands of dollars as cash prize, which somehow does not justify the atrocities being inflicted upon these poor animals. There are but a few masters, who truly love their sled dogs and look after them like their own pets.

A cuddly and docile animal, the giant panda is recognized universally as an icon for endangered animals. The giant panda is one of the most fascinating species in the kingdom Animalia. Scientifically called Ailuropoda melanoleuca, this mammal belongs to the bear family. Due to its fur color the panda is sometimes associated with the raccoons. With its rotund body this animal can be easily mistaken as being clumsy. But in reality it is not so. In fact it is quite deft while protecting its territory from trespassers, or while escaping from predators. It is the mannerism of the giant panda, which makes it stand out from the rest of the animals.

Behavior of the Giant Panda

The meek giant panda is a very interesting animal to observe in terms of its behavior. Usually, secluded or solitary from the rest, the giant panda is seen in company, only during the mating season. Apart from this, the female is seen with her cubs.

• The habitat of the giant panda is mainly forests which have rich bamboo growth. The panda loves to live near places which have a clear running brook and is laden with bamboo. Pandas do not build homes or dens, except for their cubs. A terrestrial being, the panda marks its territory by clawing trees, with scent and also by spraying urine to differentiate its habitat from others.
• The giant panda happily feasts on tender bamboo shoots, which is its favorite food, along with leaves, roots and tubers. Being omnivorous in nature, it also feeds on fish, rodents and insects as well. Occasionally, the giant panda may also eat flowers, green corn, tufted grass, honey and vines.
• Pandas prefer solitude over company and can be seen roaming around all alone. However, the only times when the pandas, especially the males, can be seen in groups is for mating. The female takes care of the cubs and once the cub turns 3 years old, it leaves the mother and fends for itself.
• The only time the panda is active and moves about, looking for food, is in the morning and at sunset. The rest of the day is spent in sleeping. This is because the panda feeds on food that is low in nutrition and does so to conserve energy.
• Unlike other members of the bear and raccoon family, the giant panda does not hibernate. This is because the panda does not get enough nutrients from the food it eats and hence cannot conserve it in its body for further use. This makes it a poor candidate for hibernation. So during the cold, winter months, the pandas move to lower altitude places where they can be warm, and during the summers they relocate to higher places, to remain cool.
• The breeding season of the giant panda is between the months of March and May. Following a gestation period of 3 to 5 months, the female gives birth to one cub, which is blind. Only after six or eight weeks can the cub open its eyes. In case of twins, only one cub survives. Once the cub becomes three months old, it begins to move around, along with its mother.
• The natural predators of the giant panda are wolves, leopards and jackals. Though on land, the panda may resemble a slow moving and clumsy animal, it can climb trees with precise dexterity when it feels threatened by enemies. It can quickly reach the top on all fours in swift movements.

Due to the depletion of its natural habitat and encroachment, the giant panda is bred in captivity since they have become endangered. It is necessary to save the shy animal and the WWF symbol from becoming extinct.