The big god's little milk bag is cute

Chapter 209 Giant Panda National Treasure

evolution
Giant pandas have a long history.The fossils of the oldest member of the giant panda discovered so far, the Eo panda, were unearthed in Lufeng and Yuanmou, Yunnan, China, with a geological age of about 800 million years ago in the late Miocene.In the long-term and severe competition for survival and natural selection, many animals of the same generation have become extinct, but the giant panda is the strong one and has the advantage. It has survived to this day and has become a "living fossil". [5]
The ancestor of the giant panda is Ailuaractos lufengensis. The standard Chinese name of the giant panda is actually "猫熊", which means "bear like a cat".This is the earliest carnivorous panda evolved from a bear-like species.The main branch of the Eo-panda continued to evolve in central and southern China. One of them appeared in the early Pleistocene about 300 million years ago. It was smaller than the panda. Judging from its teeth, it has evolved into an omnivore that eats bamboo. , oviparous bears, since then this main branch has expanded to the subtropics, widely distributed in North China, Northwest China, East China, Southwest China, South China, and even Vietnam and northern Myanmar. Fossils have been found.

During this process, giant pandas have adapted to life in subtropical bamboo forests, gradually increasing in size and relying on bamboo for a living.In the middle and late Pleistocene 50-70 years ago, the giant panda was at its peak.The molars of giant pandas in life are well developed, and their paws have a "thumb" in addition to the five toes.This "thumb" is actually a specialized carpal bone, the scientific name is "radial sesamoid", which mainly plays the role of holding bamboo.

Giant pandas spend nearly half of their daily time eating.The digestive tract of giant pandas retains the characteristics of their ancestors and is similar to carnivorous animals, such as relatively short digestive tract, sharp canine teeth, single-chambered stomach, no cecum, relatively sharp claws and well-developed meat pads.In the slow evolution process, it gradually evolved into high-fiber bamboo as the staple food, and evolved some structural characteristics adapted to living on bamboo, such as masseter muscles, crown teeth, and front paws evolved in addition to five toes. A pseudo-thumb is formed to form a pair of grip structures to facilitate holding bamboo.

Fossils show that the ancestors of giant pandas appeared in the early Diluvial period 2-3 million years ago.Hundreds of thousands of years ago was the heyday of giant pandas, which belonged to the stegodont paleontology group. The habitat of giant pandas once covered most of eastern and southern China, from Beijing in the north to southern Myanmar and Vietnam in the south north.Fossils are usually found in temperate or subtropical forests at altitudes of 10-500 meters.Later, the animals of the same period became extinct one after another, but the giant panda remains to this day, maintaining its original ancient characteristics. [700]
Chinese people have a long history of knowing pandas, and various names of pandas have been recorded as early as the early days of writing. "Book of Books" is called Pi, "Mao Shi" is called Baipi (pi), "Emei Mountain Chronicles" is called Pixiu, "Beast Book" is called raccoon dog, Li Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" is called tapir, and so on. [5]
In March 1869, French naturalist Father Armand David (Armand David [3] 31-1826.9.7) was on a scientific investigation near the Dengchigou (Muping) Church in Baoxing County, Ya’an, Sichuan, China. Found traces of what the locals call white bears and flower bears.With the help of local hunters, on April 1900.11.10, he collected white bear specimens, with black and white coats and hairy bottoms, which looked like a bear. This was a strange animal he had never seen before.

Its specimen and skeleton were shipped to France.After the identification of Alphonse Miller Edwards, a scientist at the Paris Natural History Museum, the "black and white bear" is a new species, named Ailuropoda melanoleuca (cat bear), and the identification report was published in "New Documents of the Paris Natural History Museum" in 1869. Five volumes, since then, pandas living in the wilderness have entered the vision of human civilization. [5]
name
The modern name of the giant panda (that is, the name commonly used in China), was originally named panda or giant panda, which means that its face is as round and fat as a cat, but its overall body is like a bear, and some even belong to the bear family. .Before the 20s, the writing method of Chinese was straight script, and reading was from right to left, but after it was changed to horizontal script, it was from left to right. At that time, visitors were accustomed to reading straight books from right to left, so they mistook them for pandas. [50]
Since then, first in the hometown (Sichuan) where it is mainly produced, the rumors have been spread over time, and over time it is customary to change the name of the panda to the panda.Later, its common Chinese name is the giant panda, which is recognized by people.Its place name, in its hometown, is mostly called Baixiong, or Bailaoxiong, and also Huaxiong; in Minshan Tibetan area, it is called Dang or Dudongga (gǎ), and Pingwu Baidadabu people call it Dongga. The Yi people in Liangshan are called Equ.Although all these place names are called differently, their meanings are the same as those of Pixiu or tapir in ancient books, which means that its body color is white, or black and white, or its body shape is like a bear. [7]
The giant panda's aliases include Hua Xiong, Bamboo Bear, Silver Dog and Giant Raccoon.Silver dog, this is because the local name and commodity name of the red panda is golden dog, and the corresponding panda is called silver dog because of its white body color.Bamboo bear is named after its main food is bamboo.Huaxiong shows that it is a rare and exotic animal specially produced by the Chinese nation. [7]
After the western world got to know it, it was first translated as "giant panda" or "cat bear", but another legend said that when it was first published in the 20th century newspaper, it was accidentally reversed into "panda". name it.If you follow these names as clues, you can trace many miraculous records. [7]
发现
Baoxing County is located in Ya'an City in the northwest of Sichuan Province, China. The area has overlapping mountains, sweet streams and springs, towering trees, and pleasant scenery in all seasons.It is in the transition zone from the basin to the plateau and mountain.It contains nearly a quarter of all animal species in China, many of which are rare birds and animals. From 1862 to 1874, when French missionary Armand David lived in China, he learned that there were many kinds of animals in Baoxing, Sichuan, and some of them were rare species that were not yet known to people. The fourth-generation priest of Dengchigou Church. [8]
In the spring of 1869, David passed by a family named Li on his way. Suddenly, a strange black and white animal skin hanging on the wall attracted David deeply.The owner told him: The locals call this animal "white bear", "flower bear" or "bamboo bear". It is very docile and generally does not hurt people.David was very excited. He estimated that this animal "will be an interesting new species in science", and this discovery will fill a gap in the world's animal research.In order to get this peculiar animal, David hired 20 local hunters to start a hunt. On March 3, the hunters brought the first little "white bear", but unfortunately they killed it for portability.

On May 1869, 5, David caught a "bamboo bear". He named the "bamboo bear" "Monokuma". The brains and the antics are what David loves.After a period of careful feeding, David decided to bring this lovely "black and white bear" back to France.This cute "black and white bear" couldn't stand the bumps of the long-distance mountain road and the constant changes in the climate, and was dying before it was transported to Chengdu. David had no choice but to make a specimen of the skin of the "black and white bear" and send it to Chengdu as a gift. Exhibited at the National Museum in Paris, France.The world's first giant panda type specimen was produced in this way. [4]
The National Museum of Paris, France exhibited this animal skin. After thorough research, the director of the museum, Miller Edwards, believed that it was neither a bear nor a cat, but another larger animal similar to the little panda found in XZ, China. Panda, it was officially named "Giant Panda". [8]
In 1939, Chongqing Pingming Zoo held an exhibition of animal specimens, among which the "panda" specimens attracted the most attention of the audience.Its signs adopt the popular international writing format, indicating Chinese and Latin respectively.However, since the customary reading method of Chinese at that time was to read from right to left, all visitors pronounced "猫熊" as "Panda".A newspaper in Taiwan once wrote an article to rectify the name of "Panda", but the people have gotten used to it, and feel that "Panda" is not so easy to pronounce.Since then, the modern name "Giant Panda" was born!David became the first foreigner to introduce China's Baoxing giant pandas to the western world. [8]
The discovery of giant pandas caused a sensation in the western world.Since then, batch after batch of western explorers, hunters and museum specimen collectors have come to giant panda production areas, trying to uncover the mystery of giant pandas and hunt this rare animal.Among them were Theodore Roosevelt and Kermit Roosevelt, the two sons of President Roosevelt of the United States.The two brothers first went to Baoxing County, where David found giant pandas, but found nothing, and then went to Daliang Mountain.In Yuexi County, they shot and killed a giant panda, made a specimen and brought it back to the United States.Later, explorers from Germany, the United Kingdom and other countries hunted giant pandas, and even more were acquired from Chinese hunters.For a time, many museums in western countries had specimens of giant pandas.But they have never been able to capture a live giant panda. [8]
Sixty-seven years after Father David discovered the giant panda, in 67, Ruth Harkless, a 1936-year-old New York female fashion designer, was newly married.Her husband, William Harkless, was an avid explorer and traveled to China in search of giant pandas two weeks after their marriage.However, William died of illness in Shanghai before reaching the giant panda production area.Determined to fulfill her husband's legacy, Ruth set off for China in April 35, two months after her husband's death. [1936]
Ruth's expedition consisted of only two people—she and Quentin Yang, a 25-year-old Chinese-American.They traveled upstream from Shanghai to Chengdu in a small wooden boat, and then entered Wenchuan, looking for giant pandas in the deep mountains and old forests, and setting traps for hunting. On November 1936, 11, when Yang Tingkun caught a small fluffy animal from a tree hole and handed it to Ruth, who was already numb from the cold, she couldn't believe it. This is what Westerners have dreamed of for more than half a century. Ruth thought the little one weighing less than 9 pounds was a female (it turned out to be a male), so she named it "Su Lin" after Yang Quentin's wife.Luckily, Ruth took Su Lin back to Chengdu quickly, and then flew to Shanghai. [3]
Although Westerners have been looking for giant pandas for more than half a century and know that it is a rare and endangered animal, until then, the Chinese knew almost nothing about giant pandas.Hunters can hunt this "bear" at will, and the government does not have any protection regulations and measures.Ruth's trouble is not that she has captured a giant panda, but that the formalities for entering the mainland of China are not complete, so she cannot leave the country.In the end she took a bribe and boarded the ship to the United States.She packed Su Lin in a large wicker basket, wrote on the customs registration form, "Take a pug with you", and got out of the customs. [8]
Ruth and Su Lin are still sailing in the Pacific Ocean, and the transoceanic telegram has already spread the news all over the United States.When the ship docked at the San Francisco pier, it was the day before Christmas. The Americans who were extremely surprised held a grand welcome ceremony on the pier. They arranged the most luxurious suites for the precious guests and held a grand welcome party.Su Lin was sent to many big cities for exhibition, causing a sensation everywhere she went.Roosevelt's son Theodore, who once went to China in search of giant pandas, said emotionally when he saw Su Lin, "If this little guy is used as a souvenir from my gun, I would rather use my son instead." [8]
After fierce competition, Brookfield Zoo in Chicago got Su Lin.People flocked here like a tidal wave, and the maximum number reached 4 people in one day, surpassing the zoo's highest admission record.Su Lin's every move has become newspaper news.Businessmen are scrambling to produce products with the image of giant pandas.Trendy girls strutted about in panda swimsuits.There's even a cocktail named after a giant panda.The story of Ruth and Su Lin became a bestseller and was adapted for the silver screen. [8]
Unfortunately, Su Lin only lived for one year and was made into a permanent display of specimens.The appearance of Su Lin brought giant pandas from museums to the public.It is not only rare, but also cute, and has become an animal star all over the world for a while.Various Western powers went to China to capture giant pandas. From 1936 to 1941, the United States alone took away 9 giant pandas from China.West China University, a missionary school in Chengdu, helped a lot.After staying in the giant panda production area for 20 years, Tangier Smith, a British man known as the "King of Pandas", bought a total of 1936 live giant pandas during the three years from 1938 to 3, and brought 9 of them with him. Arrived in England. [6]
During World War II, the giant panda "Ming" in the London Zoo behaved calmly and played freely under the bombing of German planes, and became a wartime hero in the hearts of London citizens.Newspapers continued to report on Ming's life at the height of the war.Ming died in late 1944. The obituary published in The Times said: "She can die without regret because she brought joy to thousands of people."In December 1945 after the end of World War II, the British organized a team of more than 12 people through diplomatic channels to go to Wenchuan to conduct a large-scale search, and finally captured a giant panda and sent it to the UK.Like many things in China, the panda's prominence in China has skyrocketed since it gained prominence abroad.Beginning in the 200s, the government began to restrict hunting by foreigners. [20]
Giant pandas are plump and bear-like in shape, with a round head and short tail. The head and body are 1.2-1.8 meters long, and the tail is 10-12 centimeters long.The weight is 80-120 kg, and the maximum weight can reach 180 kg. The raised pandas are slightly heavier, and generally male individuals are slightly larger than females.The hair color of the head and body is black and white, but the black is not pure black, and the white is not pure white, but brown in black and yellow in white.Individuals in the Qinling Mountains are relatively large, with rough body hair and slightly brown abdominal hair.The individuals of Minshan (especially Qingchuan Pingwu) are smaller, the body hair is thinner than the former, and the brown hair on the abdomen is not obvious, but the individuals of Liangshan are not too small.The black and white appearance is good for hiding on the trees in the dense forest and on the snow-covered ground, so that it is not easy to be found by natural enemies.Relatively sharp claws and well-developed and powerful front and rear limbs are conducive to the giant panda's ability to quickly climb tall trees. [6]
The giant panda's skin is thick, up to 10 mm at its thickest point.The skin thickness of different parts of the body is also different, the back of the body is thicker than the ventral side, the outside of the body is thicker than the inside of the body, the average thickness of the skin is about 5 mm, and it is white, elastic and tough. [9]
The vision of giant pandas is extremely underdeveloped.This is because giant pandas have lived in dense bamboo forests for a long time, with very dark light and many obstacles, resulting in very short-sightedness.In addition, because its pupils are longitudinally slit like a cat.Therefore, when night falls in the evening, they can still move.

Giant pandas inhabit the high mountains and deep valleys in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in China, which is the windward side of the southeast monsoon. The climate is cool and humid, and the humidity is often above 80%. They are a kind of moisture-loving animals.Giant pandas live in 6 long and narrow areas, including Minshan Mountain, Qionglai Mountain, Liangshan Mountain, Daxiangling Mountain, Xiaoxiangling Mountain and Qinling Mountain, spanning 3 counties (cities) in the three provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu. The land area is more than 45 square kilometers, and the population is about 20000, of which more than 1600% are distributed in Sichuan.The areas where they are active are mostly in valleys, mountain depressions, valley terraces, etc., generally on gentle slopes below 80°.These places have lush forests, good bamboo growth, relatively stable temperatures, good concealment conditions, and abundant food resources and water sources.

Pandas cut half of the time for eating every day, and most of the remaining half of the time is spent in sleep.In the wild, giant pandas sleep for 2-4 hours between every two meals. Lying on the back, lying on the side, lying on the stomach, stretching or curling up are all their preferred sleeping methods.In the zoo, the keepers feed them regularly twice a day, so the rest of the time the giant pandas spend resting.Giant pandas look cute even when they are sleeping.They are very flexible and can put their bulky bodies into a variety of poses.The favorite position is to prop up the legs on the tree and cover the eyes with the hands.

Wild pandas inhabit dense forests, and when they grow to a certain stage, they must mate and give birth, that is, estrus, courtship, mating, pregnancy and child rearing.Pandas usually live alone, but during the breeding season, the male and female are attracted to each other, and various courtship activities begin in the dense bamboo forest.Pandas belong to the multi-hero breed.

They have a small number of litters throughout their lives, and it is not easy for the young to survive.Due to the high degree of specialization in panda reproductive ability and child-rearing behavior, the population growth of pandas is very slow.

In captivity, female giant pandas reach sexual maturity at about 4 years old, and male giant pandas reach sexual maturity at about 6 years old, while wild giant pandas reach sexual maturity later.Except for the estrous and mating season, giant pandas usually live alone, and each has its own activity area.

For the safety of the next generation, the giant panda who gave birth as a mother has changed her past docile temper and is very vigilant, not allowing any animals (including humans) to approach her sacred and inviolable baby.

The gestation period of giant pandas is 83-200 days, and the cubs are usually born around August. The birth nest is usually a hidden tree hole, or a natural cave, with branches and dry grass carefully laid out by the giant panda mother.

The most peculiar thing about giant panda breeding is that its newborns are quite immature at birth, weighing only 0.1% of their mother's weight. One-thousandth of a panda's weight, the lightest is 145 grams, and the heaviest is 51 grams.

Caring for children is a very difficult task for a female giant panda, which usually lasts 18 months, sometimes as long as two years, until her next cub is born.

Newborn giant pandas have pink skin with sparse white fur.During the first few weeks of its life, the giant panda mother will always hold the baby in her arms, warm it and protect it, almost never leave it, and hold it in her mouth when it moves.

In this regard, captive giant pandas and wild giant pandas are the same.If you see a giant panda mother licking her cub, it is likely that she is helping the cub to defecate.

During the raising period of giant pandas, cubs’ cries are a very important communication tool for the communication between mother and cubs. When cubs want to eat milk, defecate, suffer from cold or overheating or feel unwell for other reasons, cubs will remind their mothers through different calls. The beast meets its different needs.After 1-2 weeks, the place where the black hair grows starts to darken.

Within a month, they slowly grew black ears, eye sockets, legs and shoulder girdle, and became more like their mothers.When the cubs are 6-8 weeks old, they can open their eyes and begin to grow teeth; after three months, they can crawl slowly.

Because the giant panda is an extremely precious natural and historical heritage in the world, it has important academic research value, and its survival and protection status has attracted the attention of the world.The fundamental measures to protect giant pandas are to protect the habitat of giant pandas, promote the breeding of giant pandas in the wild and in captivity, improve and strengthen management methods, adopt scientific methods, create necessary conditions for the survival of giant pandas, and stabilize and develop the population of giant pandas Population, Development and Restoration of the Giant Panda's Potential Habitat. [
By the end of 2011, there were 333 captive pandas in captivity around the world.The only institutions that can maintain a breeding population of more than 10 animals are the Wolong China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas, the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, the Shaanxi Rare Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Research Center, and the Beijing Zoo.Giant pandas are a highly endangered species.

By the end of 2013, the national population of wild giant pandas had reached 1864, an increase of 16.8%.

As of November 2019, the global population of captive giant pandas reached 11.

As of January 2021, the wild population of giant pandas in China has increased to 1.

On July 2021, 7, the State Council Information Office held a press conference. Cui Shuhong, director of the Natural Ecological Protection Department of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, introduced that the number of giant pandas in the wild has reached more than 7, and the threat level has been downgraded from endangered to vulnerable.

(End of this chapter)