Panda Updates – Monday, May 13

Giant pandas have been around for thousands of years. Some of the biggest threats that giant pandas face today, such as habitat fragmentation, didn’t become a problem until the agricultural and land development splurge in the last hundred years or so. Up until the late 1800s, little was known about giant pandas or their behavior. They are an extremely elusive carnivore often on the search for a new patch of bamboo. Their historical natural range didn’t have them coming into contact with humans often at all. It took a lot of effort and determination for researchers to collect some of the first pieces of data we have on giant pandas in their natural habitats. It’s crazy to think that despite being a well-known and recognized species across the world and all cultures, it wasn’t until recent years that we really started getting a grasp on giant panda behavior. As a matter of fact, their entire genome even wasn’t sequenced until 2010!
Danica W.
Keeper II, Mammals

(photo by Danica W.)