2006-12-04 12:35:17 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Environment
As the eucalyptus plants become more rare (in the pandas' environment), their population decrease to the point of near extinction.
2006-12-04 12:40:34 · answer #1 · answered by F.G. 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The main diet of the Panda is bamboo. There are many varieties of bamboo. Each variety grows best in certain environments. The Panda must inhabit those environments which support bamboo. Just moving the Panda to forests with other trees and plants will not save the Panda.
This problem is understood in China very well. China had the largest population of the Giant Panda - the white and black cuddly looking one - and the Red Panda, and wanted to protect them from extinction, since it was obvious that human encroachment into their habitat was pushing them toward extinction.
What was not understood was the life cycle of the bamboo plant and the fact that the Panda wanders from bamboo species to bamboo species as the bamboo thrives.
The Chinese set aside areas for the Panda and protected them. The life cycle of the bamboo is very interesting and impacted the Pandas in the preserves in a negative way. Every certain number of years, different for each bamboo species, the bamboo plants mature, flower, go to seed, and die. Each species has its own internal clock that my be as long as 20 YEARS! Whole groves of bamboo flower, seed and die - all together!
When the species in the protected areas matured, it followed the natural life cycle of flowering, seeding, and dying. But the protected area did not have enough other bamboo species and so the Pandas were starving. The Chinese rescued many Pandas and planted other species of bamboo in the protected zone so that there will be a supply of food in the future for the Pandas. There are now only about 800 Pandas left in the wild!
;-D I hope the Pandas can survive until the new species have grown up to edible quantities!
2006-12-04 12:59:26 · answer #2 · answered by China Jon 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
the evironment has a small impact on the declining population of the panda the 2 main factors are habitat loss and low reproductive rate
2006-12-05 13:21:56 · answer #3 · answered by xanman50 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm with FG. China has the same issues as the US as far as that is concerned. Development is killing the forests and taking the pandas food.
2006-12-04 12:43:03 · answer #4 · answered by Ms. K 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋