On May 6, 2022, a dead giant panda was found in a river in Huayang Town, Yangxian County, Shaanxi Province. This giant panda is located on the rocky beach in the middle of the river. Because it has been dead for a long time, it has decomposed very seriously and most of its fur has fallen off. As for the internal organs, they were completely rotten, and the smell was so strong that some people couldn't help but start vomiting.
Based on this situation, experts calculated that the giant panda had probably been dead for more than 20 days. In order to find out the cause of the death of this giant panda, the police called out the infrared cameras for field monitoring within 5 kilometers nearby to rule out the possibility of human hunting. Since is not caused by man-made reasons, it is a natural death.
Introduction to giant pandas
Giant pandas are the only mammals in the carnivorous order Ursidae, subfamily Giant Panda, and the giant panda. Their head and body are 1.2-1.8 meters long, and their tails are 10-12 centimeters long. The weight is about 80-120 kg, and the heaviest can reach 180 kg. The weight is usually black and white. It has round cheeks, big dark circles under the eyes, a chubby body, an iconic eight-character walking style, and scalpel-sharp claws. It is one of the cutest animals in the world.
The giant panda has survived on the earth for at least 8 million years. It is known as a "living fossil" and "China's national treasure". It is the image ambassador of the World Wildlife Fund and is the flagship species of the world's biodiversity conservation. According to the third national wild population survey of giant pandas, there are less than 1,600 wild giant pandas in the world, which are classified as first-level protected animals in China.
As of October 2011, the number of giant pandas in captivity nationwide was about 333. Many people think that giant pandas are vegetarians. In fact, giant pandas originally ate meat. After evolution, 99% of their food is bamboo , but their teeth and digestive tract remain the same, and they are still classified as carnivorous. The life span of giant pandas in the wild is 18 to 20 years old, and they can exceed 30 years old in captivity.
The giant panda is endemic to China, and its main existing habitats are the mountainous areas of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu in China. On November 12, 2019, the latest data on giant pandas in 2019 was released. The number of giant pandas in captivity worldwide reached 600. Because giant pandas are very precious, they are listed as key protected objects. If they are not protected well, children in the future may only be able to see pictures or specimens.
Reasons for death of giant pandas
. Attacks
Although giant pandas are vegetarians, their fighting capabilities cannot be underestimated, especially their big paws. If they are hit by them, they will definitely be injured. However, some particularly ferocious animals are not afraid of giant pandas, such as tigers, lions, bears and leopards. This giant panda may have fought with some giant bears and beasts, then escaped with injuries, and eventually died in the river due to its severe injuries.
, natural death
According to relevant records, the most common diseases of giant pandas are digestive tract diseases and parasitic diseases. If giant pandas living in the wild suffer from diseases and do not receive timely rescue, then the disease will kill them over time. Compared with giant pandas living in the wild, those in zoos are relatively lucky. There is no need to worry about illness or food, so their lifespans will be longer than those living in the wild.
. Death from hunger
Usually when we go to the zoo to watch giant pandas, they are basically sleeping and we rarely see them moving. Unless they are eating, they are lying on the ground. Some giant pandas end up starving to death because they are lazy and do not look for food. Such giant pandas are basically eliminated directly.
There is a little story about giant pandas
Thousands of years ago, giant pandas were very brave and were said to be the mounts of Chi You. Legend has it that Chi You kept two giant pandas, one as a mount and the other as a pet. During the battle of deer, Chi You mistakenly mistook the giant pandas for combat pandas and ultimately failed.If it had been the giant panda that knew how to fight, Chi You might have won. However, these are all legends and cannot be judged true or false. Just listen to them as stories.
Why should we protect giant pandas?
The reason why humans want to protect giant pandas is to achieve the goal of sustainable development of human society, so we must protect biodiversity and the natural environment. Once wild animals that have evolved over a long period of history, such as giant pandas, disappear, there will be irreparable shortcomings and losses. And if these rare animals are not protected, our descendants will not be able to see living creatures like giant pandas in the future, and they may only be able to appreciate them through specimens and pictures.
People hope that by protecting the giant panda as an umbrella species, rare species such as golden monkey , takin , musk deer, golden pheasant , Davidia involucrata , incense tree and other species that share their habitats will be protected. Provide shelter to protect biological diversity. However, judging from the current phenomenon of predators disappearing in giant panda reserves, it seems that while we are protecting giant pandas, we have failed to provide a good protection umbrella for other large carnivorous beasts. This phenomenon deserves reflection.
On the premise of continuing to protect giant pandas, we should actively study why giant pandas have not become a real umbrella species as people expected, and how to build nature reserves to maximize the protection of giant pandas in the same domain. Distribution of wild animals. In this action to protect giant pandas, we hope that all people will participate and not harm them.
Conclusion
Everyone has a responsibility to protect giant pandas. In addition to giant pandas, some common wild animals also need to be protected, otherwise the extinction of species will destroy the ecological balance. However, due to humans hunting a large number of wild animals in the past, the common ones have now disappeared. This needs to be carefully reflected on. If this continues, it will be really dangerous.
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