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| This panda should be dead by now, as well as the bald guy about to fall (be pushed) into the enclosure. |
How many (future dead) pandas are in captivity?
There were about 166 captive pandas by the end of 2003.
[information from the WWF]
How long do we have to wait for a panda to die?
While their average life span in the wild is about fifteen years, giant pandas
in captivity have been known to live well into their twenties.
[information from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service]
How much can a (dead) panda pelt be sold for?
No information is available on the market end of panda pelt trade. From the
existing cases, we learned that it could be sold for a price various from
US$25 to US$66,500.
[information from the WWF]
How do you count the number of pandas?
The number of pandas is estimated through a comprehensive analysis of the
individuals seen in the wild, measurement of bamboo-bites in the droppings
collected from the wild, other signs, home range and interviews with local
people.
[information from the WWF]
The technique used to ‘count’ pandas is the ‘bite-size technique’.
Pandas digest very little of the plant material and will defecate the majority
of their bamboo intake. Giant pandas eat for more than 12 hours every day,
and do so in a repetitive manner. While eating the stalk of bamboo the panda
will push the stalk into its mouth and bite down. When this bite has been
cleared of its mouth, it will bite down again and continue eating in this
manner for hours at a time. Chinese investigators have determined that the
average bite-size of an individual panda is not likely to vary by more than
a few millimetres (Wang et al. In prep.), and that different individual pandas
have different average bite sizes. Therefore, it is possible to collect and
measure the average bite-size of bamboo pieces in faeces collected during
the survey, and from this information determine the number of pandas that
have produced the collected faeces. It has been found that different individual
pandas have different average bite sizes. Combining this information with
average home range sizes for pandas, the survey team can determine the minimum
number of pandas in a given habitat block.
[by Colby Loucks and Wang Hao at San Diego Panda 2000 Conference]
Why won't the panda screw to save its species?
Not only is the female extremely picky about her mate, she only goes
into heat once a year, and then only for about 72 hours. To make matters worse,
males, especially the ones in captivity, are not known for their sexual prowess.
Not only are their sexual organs undeveloped - about thumb-sized - but they
are not always sure how to use them. He might try her ear, or wherever, until
he finally figures it out or she gets irritated and walks away. Panda experts
in China have tried Viagra and even panda porn videos in an attempt to encourage
the reluctant creatures to mate.
"Left to their own devices, extinction of the panda is inevitable," says scientist Wang Pengyan, the deputy director of the Wolong Panda Preserve in western China. "Our job is to extend the time that pandas will be in the world."
This means everything from artificial insemination and test-tube babies created
from the eggs of a dead panda to a new, ambitious attempt to clone pandas.
Such efforts are exacerbating conflicts between environmentalists and scientists
- and have launched a race between cloning specialists East and West.
[information from the Los Angeles Times]
Is it true that people are executed for killing pandas?
Before the revision of the Criminal Law of China in 1997, a person
convicted of killing a giant panda could receive the death penalty, and some
panda poachers were in fact executed. According to the revised law, the most
severe penalty for panda poaching today is over 10 years in prison.
[information from the WWF]
Are Giant Pandas Really Bears?
For years scientists have wondered whether pandas are bears, raccoons, or
in a group all their own. Through studying the genetic code (DNA) in pandas’
cells, scientists have confirmed the panda's relationship with bears. Giant
pandas are similar to other bears in their general looks, the way they walk
and climb, and their skull characteristics.
[information from the San Diego Zoo]