Changing environments
and endangered
species
5 interesting facts about
pandas.
1.The life span of giant pandas in the wild is approximately 20
years. Captive pandas may live to be 25-30 years old.
2. The eyespots of a giant panda cub are initially in the shape of a
circle. As the cub grows, the circles become shaped like a
teardrop.
3. Giant pandas are on the brink of extinction, with just over
1,000 pandas left in the world. Scientists are hoping to increase
the wild panda population to 5,000 by 2025.a
4.The giant panda has been on the endangered species list since
1990. The most significant threats to pandas are habitat loss
and poaching. China is only approximately 5% greater than the
U.S. in area but has four times the population.
5. Pandas have lived on Earth for two to three million years.
Map of where pandas live
Population numbers over time.
Pictures of environment over
time
• A panda's daily diet consists almost entirely of the leaves,
stems and shoots of various bamboo species.
• Bamboo contains very little nutritional value so pandas must
eat 12-38kg every day to meet their energy needs.
• But they do branch out, with about 1% of their diet
comprising other plants and even meat. While they are almost
entirely vegetarian, pandas will sometimes hunt for pikas and
other small rodents.
• Giant Pandas are strictly herbivores, their diet consisting
primarily of bamboo.
Herbivores, because they eat bamboo. I think they eat meat
sometimes though. ANSWER: The correct answer is they are
99% herbivore as bamboo leaves are most of their diet.
A List of the reasons that
pandas is endangered
• Habitat Loss
• China’s Yangtze Basin region, which holds the
panda’s primary habitat, is the geographic and
economic heart of this booming country. Roads and
railroads are increasingly fragmenting the forest,
which isolates panda populations and prevents
mating.
• Forest destruction also reduces pandas’ access to
the bamboo they need to survive. The Chinese
government has established more than 50 panda
reserves, but only around 61% of the country’s
panda population is protected by these reserves.
Diversity and why is it
important
• the variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular
habitat, a high level of which is usually considered to be important
and desirable.
• Ecosystems and their species perform important biological services,
for example, green plants remove carbon dioxide and release oxygen
into the atmosphere, which helps keep the environment healthy and
fit for human life. Although we still have much to learn about the
often complex function of ecosystems, and about which species
perform critical roles, we know that if an ecosystem is altered in any
way, it might not be able to perform some of its important services.
Economic arguments also provide compelling reasons for conserving
species. Different species of plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms provide us with food, medicines, fuel, building materials,
fiber for clothing and industrial products.
What is being done to prevent
the extinction of pandas.
• The plan includes 14 new panda reserves and five areas that
will connect patches of panda habitat .The connected patches
will allow pandas to move to other areas where they can
associate with other pandas and mate to increase the panda
population. All of these areas are in the mountains of
Southwestern China .They are also creating breeding centers,
in addition to reserves, in China. The most famous reserve is
the Wolong Nature Reserve. It is famous for the China
Conversation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. The
nature reserve is a temperate forest with many rare mammals,
plants, and insects. By protecting the panda in this reserve,
many other species are also getting protected. This is needed
to maintain biodiversity in the forest.
What is a seed bank and why is
it important.
• A seed bank stores seeds as a source for planting in case seed
reserves elsewhere are destroyed. It is a type of gene bank.
The seeds stored may be food crops, or those of rare species
to protect biodiversity. The reasons for storing seeds may be
varied.
• When we think of Endangered species, often panda bears and
penguin come to mind. However, plants suffer from the same
threat of extinction. In Russia, the Vavilov Research Institute
operates as a bank for many of these endangered species.
Unfortunately, the seed bank and the over 200 acres of land it
occupies is in danger of being demolished and taken over for
new house developments by the Russian Housing
Development Foundation