The world became aware of the big and small panda only at the end of the nineteenth century, despite the fact that they are very ancient and rare animals. From the moment of discovery, the study of these interesting and unusual animals began. But after two centuries of constant research, a lot of these mammals are still a mystery. Scientists can not come to a common opinion about the class of these animals. This problem is further aggravated by the fact that these two species have many differences among themselves. Therefore, at present, you can hear a large number of discussions on the topic: "Is the panda a bear or a raccoon?"
Description of the big "bamboo bear"
This species of animal is usually classified as a mammal, a group of predators, a raccoon family and a panda subfamily. But not so long ago, an Australian researcher E. Tennius conducted a series of analyzes of a morphological, cardiological, ethological and biochemical nature. According to the results, the scientist found that out of sixteen characteristics of five, the big panda is a raccoon, and the remaining twelve are peculiar to only one.
If we look at the appearance of this animal, then the big panda is undoubtedly more like bears, because it is not without reason that it is also called the “bamboo bear”. She has a massive body, which is completely covered with thick fur. Its length varies from 1.1 to 1.9 meters, and weight - from 75 to 140 kilograms. Thick and short legs of this animal end with massive paws with large claws.
If you look closely at the sole, you can see that on it and near each finger there are peculiar pads that serve the animal to hold smooth and slippery bamboo stems.
Unlike a bear, this beast has a tail, whose length reaches 13 cm, and teeth with a different structure. On the panda’s premolars, one can see protrusions and tubercles that none of the other species of bears have, and its head is massive and dull, with large erect ears.
The description of the panda of this species says that it has a white color with black spots characteristic of her eyes, black legs and a tail of the same color. And although in appearance it resembles a bear, still some of the features of its anatomy made scientists doubt it. In their opinion, the panda is a representative of the raccoon family, and some even singled it out in a special class of mammals.
What does a small view of these interesting animals look like?
This species, according to scientists, belongs to raccoons, since it has the same tail with a striped coloring, a similar muzzle, as well as the shape of the skull and the structure of the teeth. Although its discoverers were inclined to believe that the small panda is generally a cat with a fiery red color. This animal also has two subspecies - Western and Chinese.
This animal, unlike its large relatives, has a body whose length reaches a maximum of 67 cm, with a tail up to 47 cm and a mass not exceeding 6 kg. Therefore, if you answer the question: "Is the panda a bear or not?", Then we can safely say that the small appearance of these animals with a red color refers more to raccoons, rather than bears.
Spread
Big pandas live in the mountains in the heart of China. Their home are considered to be the Sichuan and Tibet regions. Their whole life passes in the forests, where bamboo grows predominantly, they are located at an altitude of 1500-4600 m above sea level. In this area, fairly moderate climatic conditions and pronounced all seasons of the year. In addition, these animals live in many centers and zoos, where they continue to study and research. In captivity, their life expectancy reaches 27 years, and in the wild is even shorter.
The red panda lives in China, Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar. She lives, like her big relative, in a mountainous area at an altitude of 4800 m. This small animal inhabits the forests of Assam, as well as the provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan. This animal lives in 86 zoos of the world.
Despite the fact that the large and small species differ significantly in appearance and scientists believe that one panda is a bear and the other a raccoon, they lead the same way of life.
Behavior
These animals mainly live one at a time. The only exception is the mating season and the time of raising their cubs. Mature individuals live in an area of about five square meters, which is much smaller than that of bears. In order to indicate their presence, they can use tags with a specific smell.
The big panda, unlike the small one, is active at any time of the day or night. Her red-haired relative leads a nocturnal lifestyle, and in the daytime he sleeps in the crowns of trees, curled up in a ball and resting his head on his large striped tail.
Food
Numerous and dense thickets of bamboo are food for both large and small pandas. Thirty species of this plant make up about 99 percent of their diet. They also willingly eat all kinds of berries, fruits, seeds and acorns. Sometimes they can even hunt small birds, reptiles and rodents.
In captivity, they are fed the same bamboo, as well as biscuits and insect larvae. A panda is an animal that is one of the few that can eat food in any position of its body and even lying down.
Breeding
Individuals of two species reach their puberty closer to five years, and begin to mate only at seven. Females in their mating season, which ranges from two days to a week, make loud noises and actively emit a specific smell.
After this comes pregnancy, which lasts on average five months in these animals. Usually one or two naked cubs are born with a body weight of not more than 200 grams and a length of 14 to 16 cm, as well as in brown bears. Although scientists still have not reached an unambiguous conclusion about whether the panda is a bear or not, the process of reproduction of these two animals is similar in nature.
Progeny
At birth, their cubs, like all species of bears, are helpless and blind. The female grows her little puppies herself and treats them very carefully and with special care. For several days after their birth, she does not leave the hole for a minute, even in order to eat or drink. A mother applies her cubs to her breast fifteen times a day, and one feeding can last about half an hour.
In a panda, twins most often appear at birth, but the female after some time selects the strongest baby from them and continues to take care of him, and the second, accordingly, dies without supervision. The lactation period in these animals lasts approximately 45 weeks, and the cubs remain with their mothers until they reach the age of three.
Interesting Facts
It turns out that for the first time, when scientists conducted research on a large species of these animals, they could not understand for a long time, the panda is who, what kind of animal it is. A little later, they came to the conclusion that she is a raccoon, but only of enormous size.
After some time, other experts refuted this opinion, as with the help of a genetic test it was possible to establish that this species of animals is more relevant to bears.
As for the red pandas, many scholars have generally written them down to a marten-like species, which consists of the family of marten, as well as raccoon and skunk.
Although, according to most researchers, these two subspecies belong to different classes, nevertheless they also have a certain similarity between themselves. For example, both pandas have a sixth “pseudo-finger” located on their front legs. It is substantially larger than the other five. In fact, this part of the body is the carpal bone covered with skin. This structure helps animals to better retain bamboo plants.
