Journal Entry 1

My group are doing presentations on animal conservation. It is about Giant Pandas. During the making of the presentation, I learn more about their characteristics.

Giant pandas are black and white bears that live in temperate-zone bamboo forests in central China. They are among the best recognized, but the rarest animals in the world. A giant panda is bear-like in shape. It has black fur on ears, eye patches, muzzle, legs, and shoulders. The rest of the animal's coat is white. They feeds 99% on bamboo, and the other 1% on other grasses, and occasional small rodents or musk deer fawns.

Giant Pandas are closing to extinction. The wild population of giant panda is about 1000 individuals, with around 100 individuals in zoos in China and around the world. Scientist predicts, at the rate of how fast the poachers kill them, the Giant Pandas would be extinct before the year 2015. Scientists now are trying their very best to save these animals.

The Giant Panda is a conservation reliant endangered species. According to the latest report, China has 239 Giant Pandas in captivity and another 27 living outside the country. It also estimated that around 1,590 pandas are currently living in the wild. However, a 2006 study, via DNA analysis, estimated that there might be as many as 2,000 to 3,000 Giant Pandas in the wild. Though reports show that the numbers of wild pandas are on the rise, the International Union for Conservation of Nature believes there is not enough certainty to remove the Giant Panda from the endangered animal list.