Pandas! By Lucas
Pandas
Two days after we picked up grandma from the airport, we went to see a panda research center. There we saw the small red pandas, and the 'giant' giant pandas. They are both endangered species, and this research center helps to protect them. This is the largest research center of pandas in the world, and is open for visitors almost every day. When this research center started it had only six giant pandas, now, they have 164! Good job China!
To get there we took the subway, then a taxi. We woke up early to beat the crowds and to see the pandas being fed, but neither was an issue. We got there a little later than expected so we were afraid we might miss the feeding, but we saw them eating all day. The bamboo isn't very nutritious so they have to eat a lot - something like 500 stems every day. The first pandas we saw were giant pandas. They were eating bamboo in a room with a big glass window. An interesting thing was that the pandas peeled the outside of the bamboo off with their teeth, then ate the inside. There were three rooms in total. We were impressed by how big the pandas really were. It looked like they had a thumb, which confused me because I thought only humans and monkeys had thumbs. It turns out that they had evolved to have an extended wrist bone to hold bamboo. WILD😱😱!
After the glass rooms we walked out into an outdoor sanctuary. Besides the concrete walkways and fences, they could have fooled me that I was just outside a huge city. In these panda sanctuaries we saw lots of pandas including 3 or 4 sets of 1 year old twins, and 5 or 6 adults. Two sanctuaries had 1 adult panda in each, but two others called the momma and cub sanctuary and panda kindergarten had an adult and two cubs in each. All three pandas in the panda kindergarten were very rambunctious. They were wrestling and climbing their man made structures and trees! The three pandas in the other sanctuary were all sleeping!😴
The next place we went to was the red panda ssection. They were much smaller than giant pandas. Giant pandas are in the bear family. Red pandas are in their own family. They looked a little bit like raccoons because of their big bushy tails, but they were still awesome.
The most amazing part about the pandas is that they are planned to be released into the wild, even though they grow up in a sanctuary. After we were done looking at pandas, we went to a museum and learned more about giant pandas and how the research center is helping save them by breeding them. In the wild pandas are endangered because they don't breed very often and their main food is bamboo. Some years, the bamboo flowers and it's very hard for the pandas to eat it. Pandas have a 50% chance of having twins, but if two pandas are born, the momma picks the healthiest one and leaves the other one to die. I Guess Mom pandas don't like their kids much😞 . Actually she just doesn't have enough energy to care for both cubs. If twins are born in the research centre they let another female panda take care of one of them so that both survive. The first panda in captivity was in the Washington and it died after three months. Now almost 100% of pandas in captivity survive until they are released into the wild🙂. Overall it was a very good day and we had lots of fun. Pandas are pretty cute, especially the babies!
Since we were in the Sichaun province of China, we had to try the Sichaun hot pot. We heard from people at our hostel that it was "other level hot", makes you cry, etc, so we asked for less spicy. We got the 1/2 and 1/2 hot pot, the white side is not spicy (for Grandma and Maya) and the red side is spicy - it was delicious!
To get there we took the subway, then a taxi. We woke up early to beat the crowds and to see the pandas being fed, but neither was an issue. We got there a little later than expected so we were afraid we might miss the feeding, but we saw them eating all day. The bamboo isn't very nutritious so they have to eat a lot - something like 500 stems every day. The first pandas we saw were giant pandas. They were eating bamboo in a room with a big glass window. An interesting thing was that the pandas peeled the outside of the bamboo off with their teeth, then ate the inside. There were three rooms in total. We were impressed by how big the pandas really were. It looked like they had a thumb, which confused me because I thought only humans and monkeys had thumbs. It turns out that they had evolved to have an extended wrist bone to hold bamboo. WILD😱😱!
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| A panda having some breakfast, holding the bamboo with the modified thumb |
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| they eat bamboo every day, I wonder if they get bored of it? |
After the glass rooms we walked out into an outdoor sanctuary. Besides the concrete walkways and fences, they could have fooled me that I was just outside a huge city. In these panda sanctuaries we saw lots of pandas including 3 or 4 sets of 1 year old twins, and 5 or 6 adults. Two sanctuaries had 1 adult panda in each, but two others called the momma and cub sanctuary and panda kindergarten had an adult and two cubs in each. All three pandas in the panda kindergarten were very rambunctious. They were wrestling and climbing their man made structures and trees! The three pandas in the other sanctuary were all sleeping!😴
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| one of the moms taking a break from playing with her cubs |
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| these 2 year old cubs were waaaaaay up in the trees |
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| this one year old cub wasn't as good at tree climbing |
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| A playful mom climbing around, her cubs are nearby |
The next place we went to was the red panda ssection. They were much smaller than giant pandas. Giant pandas are in the bear family. Red pandas are in their own family. They looked a little bit like raccoons because of their big bushy tails, but they were still awesome.
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| red panda cuteness |
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The most amazing part about the pandas is that they are planned to be released into the wild, even though they grow up in a sanctuary. After we were done looking at pandas, we went to a museum and learned more about giant pandas and how the research center is helping save them by breeding them. In the wild pandas are endangered because they don't breed very often and their main food is bamboo. Some years, the bamboo flowers and it's very hard for the pandas to eat it. Pandas have a 50% chance of having twins, but if two pandas are born, the momma picks the healthiest one and leaves the other one to die. I Guess Mom pandas don't like their kids much😞 . Actually she just doesn't have enough energy to care for both cubs. If twins are born in the research centre they let another female panda take care of one of them so that both survive. The first panda in captivity was in the Washington and it died after three months. Now almost 100% of pandas in captivity survive until they are released into the wild🙂. Overall it was a very good day and we had lots of fun. Pandas are pretty cute, especially the babies!
Since we were in the Sichaun province of China, we had to try the Sichaun hot pot. We heard from people at our hostel that it was "other level hot", makes you cry, etc, so we asked for less spicy. We got the 1/2 and 1/2 hot pot, the white side is not spicy (for Grandma and Maya) and the red side is spicy - it was delicious!
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| Maya is a little scared of all of those peppers floating in the hot pot. |
So awesome! Love reading all your posts... miss you guys
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