What about pandas

10 facts about pandas! - National Geographic Kids

Find out all about these brilliant bears!

Here at National Geographic Kids, we love wonderful wild bears! Join us as we learn about one of nature’s cutest critters in our facts about pandas!

Facts about pandas

1. Giant pandas (often referred to as simply “pandas”) are black and white bears. In the wild, they are found in thick bamboo forests, high up in the mountains of central China – you can check out our cool facts about China, here!

2. These magnificent mammals are omnivores. But whilst pandas will occasionally eat small animals and fish, bamboo counts for 99 percent of their diet.

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3. Pandas are BIG eaters – every day they fill their tummies for up to 12 hours, shifting up to 12 kilograms of bamboo!

4. The giant panda’s scientific name is Ailuropoda melanoleuca, which means “black and white cat-foot”.

5. Giant pandas grow to between 1.2m and 1.5m, and weigh between 75kg and 135kg. Scientists aren’t sure how long pandas live in the wild, but in captivity they live to be around 30 years old.

6. Baby pandas are born pink and measure about 15cm – that’s about the size of a pencil! They are also born blind and only open their eyes six to eight weeks after birth.

7. It’s thought that these magnificent mammals are solitary animals, with males and females only coming together briefly to mate. Recent research, however, suggests that giant pandas occasionally meet outside of breeding season, and communicate with each other through scent marks and calls.

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable panda primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike!

8. Family time! Female pandas give birth to one or two cubs every two years. Cubs stay with their mothers for 18 months before venturing off on their own!

9. Unlike most other bears, pandas do not hibernate. When winter approaches, they head lower down their mountain homes to warmer temperatures, where they continue to chomp away on bamboo!

10. Excitingly, conservation efforts mean that panda bear numbers are increasing in the wild. Though there’s still lots of work to be done, the species is no longer considered endangered. Hooray!

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50 Panda Facts to Celebrate 50 Years of Giant Pandas at the Smithsonian's National Zoo

Mar. 15, 2022

The Smithsonian's National Zoo has been home to giant pandas for 50 years! Enjoy these 50 fun facts in honor of the occasion.

The Zoo’s first pandas, Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing, were a gift from Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai to the American people in 1972 after First Lady Patricia Nixon mentioned how much she loved them at a dinner in Beijing, China, earlier that year.
Mei Xiang and Tian Tian, the Zoo’s adult panda pair, arrived in 2000. The pair and their cub will stay at the Zoo until 2023 through an agreement with China Wildlife Conservation Association.
As few as 1,864 giant pandas live in their native habitat, while another 600 pandas live in zoos and breeding centers around the world.
Pandas are no longer an endangered species, thanks in part to Smithsonian research! Scientists and conservationists have worked to restore the giant panda’s habitat and increase breeding in human care. Giant pandas are still considered a “vulnerable” species.
Though there are many theories, scientists are not certain why giant pandas have their distinctive black-and-white markings.
Pandas are solitary animals but will vocalize during social interactions. They sometimes chirp, honk, bleat, chomp and bark.
Pandas communicate through scent marking throughout their habitat and territory.
Giant pandas have a "pseudo thumb," formed by an elongated and enlarged wrist bone covered with a fleshy pad of skin, which helps them grasp bamboo.
A giant panda's digestive system is more similar to that of a carnivore than an herbivore, and much of what pandas eat is passed as waste.
To make up for their inefficient digestion, pandas need to consume a comparatively large amount of food — from 70 to 100 pounds of bamboo each day — to get all their nutrients.
The Zoo's Department of Nutrition grows bamboo at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute. It also cuts bamboo from 20 stands located in the greater Washington, D.C., area.
In the past, the Zoo accepted donations of bamboo from the public — but not anymore.
A lot of science goes into feeding pandas and other animals! At the Zoo, giant pandas eat specially formulated nutritious biscuits, carrots, sweet potatoes and apples. Sweet potatoes are a favorite.
Mei Xiang and Tian Tian’s favorite treat is an apple juice-flavored fruitsicle.
Xiao Qi Ji’s favorite treat is a grape-flavored fruitsicle.
On special occasions, such as birthdays, the pandas receive a huge frozen cake. Watch how one is made!
Zoo staff never enter an enclosure with an adult giant panda. Like all bears, pandas are potentially dangerous.
A panda’s jaws are so strong, they have a bite strength similar to that of a lion!
Giant pandas reach breeding maturity between 4 and 8 years old. They can have offspring until their early 20s.
Mei Xiang gave birth to Xiao Ji QI at age 22, making her the oldest panda to give birth in the United States — and probably the second oldest in the world (that we know of).
Giant pandas are fertile for less than three days each year. Smithsonian scientists developed ways to predict that window of time to improve chances for pregnancy.
Mei Xiang and Tian Tian have never successfully mated. All their cubs were born via artificial insemination.
Giant pandas can experience pseudopregnancy. A pseudopregnancy mimics a real pregnancy, but instead of giving birth at the end of it, a giant panda's hormones and behaviors return to normal. Mei Xiang is believed to have had at least six pseudopregnancies.
Mei Xiang has given birth to four cubs that survived to adulthood: Tai Shan (male born in 2005), Bao Bao (female born in 2013), Bei Bei (male born in 2015), and Xiao Qi Ji (male born in 2020).
Panda pregnancies last between 90 and 180 days, with an average pregnancy lasting 135 days. This wide variation in gestation occurs because the fertilized egg usually floats freely in the mother's uterus before it implants and begins developing.
Bears in the wild, including giant pandas, give birth in dens on a bedding of twigs, often in hollows of large logs or trees, or in caves. At the Zoo, keepers provide a small enclosure for pandas to “nest” in.
Although females may give birth to twins, usually only one cub survives.
Newborn giant panda cubs are born pink, hairless and blind. They weigh 3-5 ounces and are about the size of a stick of butter.
At 1/900th the size of its mother, a giant panda baby is the smallest mammal newborn relative to its mother's size, except for a marsupial, such as a kangaroo or opossum.
Giant panda mothers lick their cubs to help them urinate and defecate in their first weeks of life.
Giant panda mothers gently pick up cubs with their mouths to move them.
Giant panda mothers will breathe heavily on their cubs to keep them warm and humid.
After giving birth, giant panda mothers don’t eat for a very long time! Their focus during this time is nurturing and protecting their cubs, rather than eating. Scientists have observed giant panda mothers in the wild go as long as one month without eating or drinking.
After Xiao Qi Ji was born, Mei Xiang didn’t eat for 12 days.
External genitalia in bears doesn't develop until the bear is several months old. The best, and most reliable, way to determine a bear cub's sex is through DNA analysis. Scientists from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's Center for Conservation Genomics obtain the DNA from a gentle cheek swab during a cub’s veterinary exam.
Giant panda cubs may stay with their mothers for up to three years before striking out on their own. This means that a wild female, at best, can produce young only every other year.
All giant panda cubs born at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo depart at around 4 years old to join breeding programs in China.
Male pandas are not involved in the care of their cubs. Fathers and their cubs may never encounter each other in the wild.
Scientists are not sure how long giant pandas live in the wild, but it is shorter than panda lifespan in zoos. They estimate that lifespan is about 15-20 years for wild pandas and about 30 years for those in human care. Chinese scientists have reported zoo pandas as old as 38.
The Smithsonian’s National Zoo's giant panda Hsing-Hsing died at age 28 in 1999.
The giant pandas at the Zoo have air-conditioned grottos and misting sprays in their outdoor enclosure so the pandas can stay outside all summer long, if they choose to.
Giant pandas and red pandas are not as closely related as their names suggest. Red pandas are actually more closely related to raccoons than to giant pandas!
The Smithsonian National Zoo's Giant Panda Cams have been viewed more than 100 million times.
The Zoo’s Giant Panda Cam program launched in 1999 and continues to this day, with about 40 cameras operating at any given time.
Volunteers operate these cameras and choose the two best views to share with the public via the Giant Panda Cam.
Smithsonian scientists have trained more than 1,500 students and professionals in China on techniques for studying and conserving giant pandas and their habitat.
Smithsonian scientists have produced more than 150 papers on groundbreaking biological and ecological discoveries related to giant pandas.
Smithsonian scientists created the framework for how pandas are bred to improve breeding success and genetic diversity. Zoos across the globe now use this same tool for other animals!
The greatest threat to wild giant pandas is habitat loss. Smithsonian scientists and colleagues are working to restore bamboo forests in the Qinling mountains of China.
Climate change threatens the giant panda’s habitat. Everyone can help make a difference by using water and energy more efficiently.

90,000 "Pandas" against a career | Big Ideas Pandas Vs. Career | Big Ideas Personal qualities and skills
Article published in Harvard Business Review Russia

Elena Lytkina-Botello , Cathy Semmer Cray

November 13, 2018 Photo: Erik Mclean / Unsplash

The CEO of the company (let's call her Melissa) was upset. For the past seven years, she has shown exceptional results and, approaching retirement, she wanted to choose and prepare a successor. The top executives on her team were good at their jobs, but none of them were a perfect match for the CEO position.

While discussing the candidates with us, the HR director suggested, “What about Tom? He has developed a strategic mind, and his team will overcome any obstacles for him.” The HR director then paused and added, “Of course he has a problem with behavior that is not always appropriate for a managerial position. Tom often draws all the attention to himself in meetings and does not understand how this alienates his colleagues from him. And…, I don’t know how to say it, but he always smells bad.” Melissa agreed: "Tom has a brilliant mind, but I don't see him as the person to represent our company." We found out that for 18 years, Tom brilliantly passed the certification and received the maximum bonuses based on the results of his work. The item "inadequate behavior of the leadership position" was mentioned in several comments of his evaluation as an area that should be improved, but without specifics. Tom had no idea what the real problem was and how much it could hurt his career.

After evaluating over 2,000 CEOs and over 18,000 senior executives since 1995, we are surprised at how often talented executives' careers are stalled or even canceled out because of seemingly trivial problems, many of which are easily fixable. We call such problems "pandas". Pandas look innocent, but with their powerful jaws, they can bite harder than a jaguar. Pandas can be painfully costly for people whose careers stall for reasons they don't know, and for organizations and leaders who fail to fully develop talented leaders. To better understand this phenomenon, we analyzed a sample of 113 well-performing individuals. They became finalists in the selection for leadership positions, but in the end their candidatures were rejected in the final decision. Looking at a detailed assessment of their abilities, we found that 62% of them had at least one panda, and 10% had more than one. In addition, 35% of these executives considered "pandas" as one of the top three risks that could make a candidate unsuitable for a position. Many "pandas" live for years, seem innocent, but in the end influence the career trajectory of talented leaders.

We analyzed the results and identified the most common types of "pandas":

36% of "pandas" are associated with inappropriate behavior in a managerial position;
28% - with communication style;
29% - with relationships with colleagues;
The remaining 7% relate to excessive optimism and perfectionism.

Now let's look at each type.

Inconsistency in the behavior of a managerial position. This is a vague general term that refers to a variety of problems from the seemingly trivial but career-damaging bad smell to deeper problems when, for example, a person's behavior does not correspond to the company's culture. This is often said about leaders who look insecure. Get rid of that "panda": our study shows that very confident leaders are hired 2.5 times more often. This brings to mind the case of Brian, a brilliant investment professional from a leading company who was not promoted because of poor fit in leadership behavior. When we were asked to coach Brian, we collected extensive feedback from his peers and outside parties. It turned out that Brian was respected for his intellect, but he seemed modest and insecure, giving the impression to others of a man in a low position and not ready to represent the firm as a partner. We helped Brian identify and correct the behaviors that create this impression, and today he is a very profitable partner for the company.

Communication style. Complaints about communication style are usually related to how a person speaks (or remains silent) during discussions. Communication style forms the first impression and can have a significant impact on the career trajectory. Insufficient communication was a risk factor for 28% of the executives we analyzed. Take Jim, who was a prime candidate for the position of CFO of a leading medical device manufacturer about to go public. Jim's résumé fit the bill, but his weak point was his communication style—long, philosophical discourses more suited to a researcher than a CFO who is focused on profit and performance growth and can represent the company well to investors.

Our research shows that candidates who use rare, intelligent, or unrealistic expressions are eight times less likely to be hired than those who use more common language tools. The ability to tell simple stories and draw on memorable results is much more useful than a highly intellectual and academic style of speech.

Another common trap involves using "we" and "I" . The weakest candidates for leadership positions used "I" twice as often as the rest of the sample. The most successful candidates speak clearly about their individual accomplishments without overusing the pronoun "I". Candidates who talked endlessly about their own accomplishments made a worse impression on hiring decision makers than those who said, “I'm most proud of the moment the team excelled itself,” and then explained their role in the group's success.

Finally, we were disappointed to find that US CEO candidates who spoke heavily accented English were 12 times less likely to be hired by . Intragroup bias is a serious and enduring problem in employment. However, we found that after some of these executives were told that their English proficiency was perceived as a lack of competence, they improved their English proficiency and changed their career trajectory for the better.

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now for almost three months, as the Russian capital has been attributed by two charming black - white cubs of giant pandas. "As a result, another 15 percent have been added to the 3 million visitors who come to us every year to admire the richness of the planet's wildlife," said Svetlana Akulova, General Director of the Moscow Zoo. And from July 1, one and a half year old female Dinding and a two year old male Ruyi can now see how the one and a half year old female Dingding and the two year old male Ruyi settle down in their new place at any time in their homeland - in the city of Chengdu, the center of the Chinese province of Sichuan. For this, Muscovites equipped a video window right in the pandas' dwelling.

Encounter at the enclosure

Giant pandas were listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature back in 1984. And today this species has the status of vulnerable, that is, the risk of extinction has not gone away. There are many reasons for that. And urbanization, advancing on traditional habitats, and the reduction of the food supply, and serious problems with reproduction. On the one hand, scientists have found out that only 30% of female giant pandas are capable of childbearing, and on the other hand, nature has given them a very short period for mating - from March to May, and even then only a few days. According to Svetlana Akulova, General Director of the Moscow Zoo, no more than 1,500 pandas remain in the wild, and there are about 600 in zoos and nurseries, 500 of which live in Chengdu, where Dingding and Ruyi came from. It is the largest giant panda breeding center in the world. The Chinese authorities consider the conservation of these animals to be a matter of national importance, and therefore the question of which zoo in the world to send them to and who to refuse is always decided at the very top.

Pandas were donated to Moscow as part of a conservation, protection and captive research program. Not forever - for 15 years. Completely free of charge, contrary to media reports that such a lease of animals will cost Russia a million dollars a year. Dingding and Ruyi have become a symbol of friendship between the two countries, which this year celebrated the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between them. Akulova considers the opportunity to join the study of these animals the main gift for the zoo.

And on June 5, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin visited the cubs. Akulova recalls how everyone at the zoo was worried before this meeting: “Dindin is very small, she is less than two years old, and it is difficult to make her sit in one place, like any child. We warned the protocol services about this. Imagine our surprise, when we saw that Dingdin sat exactly opposite the Chinese president and obediently ate carrots all the time he was at the zoo.

In a new house

We are standing at the enclosures of Dingding and Ruyi. Each has an apartment of 220 sq. m, you can't call it anything else. Spacious, two-room, and even with a summer garden, many toys, a swing adapted for climbing, and even with a pond where you can swim in the heat. Tired of visitors? The beast at any time can go to the privacy room. The dwelling is arranged in this way strictly according to the recommendations of Chinese experts. The air temperature in the enclosures is no higher than plus 25. Humidity is like in China, for this Muscovites replaced the air conditioning system and built more rain installations. In general, having visited the native cub nursery in Chengdu, I can assure you that the cubs settled down no worse than at home.

It looks like they liked the new house right away. “They endured the flight to Moscow well. They ate 40 kilograms of bamboo on the way - the daily norm. They calmly moved from transport cells to a new home, sniffed and continued to chew bamboo as if nothing had happened,” recalls Svetlana Akulova.

Even now Dindin is lying on his back in the aviary with a bamboo tube in his paws, and it seems that he is about to play on it. Bamboo is the main food, it makes up 99% of their diet. And not just anyone, but a native, who grew up in Sichuan, from where he is specially delivered to Moscow in 500 kilograms every week. Without letting go of the pipe from his paws, Dindin crawls, as if dancing, from a high platform of logs down. It seems that now it's time to really have a bite - one straw is replaced by another, a third ... "My daughter and I come here for the third time," says Natalya Lyashko, one of the zoo visitors who have stuck around the panda enclosure. - We wanted to get on the very first day It didn't work, we came to the second one... But you don't get tired of looking at them for hours!"

We catch on: "Where is Ruyi?" It turns out that the older bear cub is sleeping sweetly in a nearby enclosure. Frustrated spectators return to Dindin, whose energy continues to bubbling. "Ruyi used to eat, now he has a rest schedule," explains Irina Ovchinnikova, head of the "Fauna of China" department.

Bear's lesson

However, bear cubs also have to learn. “They must freely give a paw so that you can examine their pads, take blood for analysis, in addition, young pandas are taught to show their teeth for examination,” continues Irina Ovchinnikova. And also - to get up, for example, on command on the scales - to control development. Plus physical education, squats, every day for 20-30 minutes, to strengthen the pelvic bones. This Ruyi will come in handy in the future when he becomes an adult male. How to achieve this? It turns out that panda cubs won't do for carrots! And also for pandacakes - cakes baked for Dindin and Ruyi from crushed corn, soybeans and rice with vitamins and calcium. Dindin receives half a kilo of this delicacy a day - she weighs 58 kg so far, and 96-kg Ruyi devours a whole kilogram of cake. If, of course, he deserves it. But he's a guy with character. Sometimes, if you don’t want to study, Irina says, at least call yourself up - he sleeps or shows that he is not in the mood to study. So, another time, the teachers say.

As for the hugs with pandas, about the love for which pandas write on the Internet - it turns out that legends are not based on anything. “This is a beast,” explains Irina Ovchinnikova. “Let it not be aggressive, but with a large body weight, teeth, claws ... To clean the panda enclosure, workers enter the cage only when the animal moves to another room. The door is closed for this time” .

Giant pandas have already been in Moscow, Irina Kostina, chief curator of the zoo's museum collections, reminded RG correspondents. The first in 1957, China gave the female Pinping, then the male An-An. A beautiful male was spotted even in the London Zoo and Muscovites agreed to bring the female Chichi to the Russian capital in the hope of breeding.