Why do pandas "big hair" and "ershun" have to return to China?
Can't eat fresh bamboo pandas and only return home? It really is! Pandas must be fresh and full of bamboo.
According to CCTV News, due to the difficulty in bringing enough fresh bamboo after the outbreak of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic, the Calgary Zoo, Alberta ’s largest city in Canada, sent the two giant pandas “big hair” and “ershun” back to China two years in advance.
Bamboo is a panda staple food and must be fresh and sufficient
"Bamboo bamboo shoots are the staple food of pandas. Just like our rice, fresh and sufficient amount of bamboo is the most important in panda breeding." A panda breeding worker who asked not to be named said that it is well known that although the panda's digestive tract and carnivorous Animals are similar, but 99% of their food is bamboo. A panda eats about 10 hours a day. As a panda in captivity, the main food of Pingba bamboo in low mountains is supplemented by a small amount of refined feed, fruits, vitamins and trace elements. At the same time, according to the characteristics of the giant panda's diet structure at different ages, and individual differences to make a reasonable match. If there is not enough bamboo for the panda, the panda will be malnourished.
Judging from the survey, the pandas are really "picky eaters." Bamboos eaten by pandas are divided into bamboo feeders and staple bamboos. Bamboo feeders are the daily objects of giant pandas; bamboo staples are the main food of giant pandas. According to a survey conducted by the Sichuan Provincial Forestry and Grassland Bureau last year, there are 216 species of bamboo in Sichuan, but only 32 species feed bamboo for giant pandas. Among the 32 kinds of bamboos that are eaten by pandas, the most popular foods for pandas are cold arrow bamboo and arrow arrow bamboo, which account for about 70% of the panda's food. The reason is because the two types of bamboo have high water content, relatively good taste, strong adaptability, wide distribution and fast growth rate, which can provide sufficient food for pandas. Monitoring shows that an adult giant panda eats at least 15 to 20 kilograms of bamboo every day and night.
Why do pandas with carnivorous teeth love bamboo?
After years of research, researchers at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding have discovered that giant pandas obtain energy mainly from starch, hemicellulose, and pectin in bamboo. The reason for choosing bamboo is that it is first of all in the wild. Compared with other foods, bamboo is widely distributed and easy to obtain, and there are few competitors to grab food with giant pandas. Second, compared to other woody plants, bamboo contains relatively high concentrations of starch. Third, the starch content of different parts of bamboo changes with the seasons. For example, in spring and summer, giant pandas prefer bamboo shoots. In autumn, bamboo leaves are the staple food, and bamboo poles are the staple food in winter.
Because "eat" has already returned panda earlier
This is not the first time the panda has returned home early because of eating problems.
The giant panda born in 2015 in the National Zoo of Malaysia, "Nuan Nuan", was once "returned" in advance due to eating problems to become a net red. "Nuan Nuan" parents rented two giant pandas to Malaysia from China: "Xing Xing" and "Liang Liang". "Nuan Nuan" loves to eat fresh bamboo imported from China, and the annual expenditure exceeds 600,000 US dollars, which is equivalent to more than 10,000 yuan per day. Because it can't afford the "Nuan Nuan" upbringing costs, the National Zoo of Malaysia sent the "Nuan Nuan" back to Chengdu, China a year in advance.
At the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, 100 adult giant pandas and 120 red pandas (small raccoons) require about 15,000 catties of bamboo shoots and 12,000 catties of bamboo each day, but most of them are eaten by giant pandas. If 24,000 kilograms of bamboo are bundled into 200 kilograms and placed in a standard way, three large trucks of 5 tons or more are required to be transported, piled up close to 200 cubic meters, plus bamboo shoots, the daily ration of giant panda requires at least 5 45 feet Standard container can only be loaded.
In other words, at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, these pandas can fill up to 5 containers of food per day.
According to data released by the 2019 Annual Meeting of the Giant Panda Breeding Technical Committee, in 2019, 37 pandas were bred globally and 57 survived. The number of captive giant pandas in the world reached 600, and the number of captive giant panda populations reached a new high.
Currently, based on the captive population of giant pandas, the research on the reintroduction of wild pandas to promote the rejuvenation of wild populations is being carried out steadily.