Buzz
Giant pandas are now regarded as national treasures in China, with their chubby physique, big round eyes, and innocent expressions capturing the hearts of people worldwide.
Giant pandas leisurely indulge in bamboo during their idle hours, appearing extremely lazy yet irresistibly cute. However, why weren't they kept as pets in ancient times? What was the real reason behind this?
Challenges in giant panda domestication
Giant pandas are China's national treasures and among the most recognized animals globally. However, nurturing these beloved creatures presents immense challenges.
In their natural habitat, giant pandas are only found in 3 provinces: Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu in western China. However, with urbanization and increased human activities, the habitat of giant pandas is gradually shrinking, making their survival increasingly difficult.
Giant pandas have a peculiar eating habit, mainly consuming bamboo shoots and leaves, devouring around 30 kg daily. In zoos, providing the right bamboo for giant pandas is crucial for their health and reproduction. However, improper cultivation of these foods not only hinders their growth and breeding but also leads to digestion issues and various chronic diseases.
Rearing giant pandas also poses a challenge. Wild pandas rarely breed and face difficulties in reproduction under captive conditions. Being solitary creatures, gathering them for breeding is challenging, and their mating season is brief, lasting only a few days a year. Missing this window means waiting for the next year.
Moreover, giant pandas have relatively weak reproductive capabilities. Female pandas give birth to only one cub each year, and the survival rate of cubs is not high because of their ineptitude in caring for the young. Hence, in zoos, most of the time, human caregivers provide special care to the cubs.
Rearing giant pandas also demands expertise and experience. Breeders need to understand the pandas' preferences, dietary needs, health indicators, and other aspects. Additionally, giant pandas are notoriously lazy animals, which affects their health and reproductive abilities. Therefore, caregivers need to design engaging activities to stimulate giant pandas and enhance their mobility.
Breeding giant pandas can be described as an exceedingly complex and challenging task, requiring specialized knowledge, experience, and patience. Although giant pandas can be kept in zoos, they are not easy to breed even in natural habitats.
By keeping giant pandas in zoos, we can ensure they have sufficient food and receive healthcare. Moreover, we can conduct research and conservation efforts to help giant pandas survive and reproduce in the wild.
Weak Vitality
Giant pandas, despite their large size, have remarkably weak vitality and insufficient immunity. This condition severely impacts the survival and reproduction of giant pandas.
The dietary habits of giant pandas are detrimental to their vitality maintenance. Bamboo constitutes their main diet, yet bamboo has high fiber content and poor digestibility, often leading to digestive issues such as indigestion, vomiting, or diarrhea.
Furthermore, with the disappearance of bamboo forests, giant pandas struggle to find adequate food. Additionally, bamboo and shoots are nutritionally deficient, increasing the risk of malnutrition in giant pandas.
The habitat of giant pandas also contributes to their weakened vitality. Human intervention and destruction have deprived giant pandas of their natural ecological environment. Moreover, they are affected by noise pollution, light pollution, and varying levels of air pollution. Additionally, disease pathogens in their habitat significantly reduce the vitality of giant pandas.
Researchers have found that in giant panda conservation areas, giant pandas and other wildlife are threatened by numerous parasites, with infection rates reaching up to 80%. The invasion of these pathogens diminishes the immune capacity of giant pandas, thereby affecting their vitality and survival.
Healthcare for giant pandas is crucial for their well-being and survival. As a species facing the threat of extinction, giant pandas require human protection and extensive research. However, due to limited historical efforts in giant panda conservation, there is still inadequate knowledge about their medical care.
Furthermore, the size and physical characteristics of giant pandas pose challenges for quick disease detection. This factor significantly contributes to their fragile vitality.
Giant pandas are known for their irritable nature.
Despite their cute and harmless appearance, giant pandas have quite a temperamental heart.
Giant pandas have broad heads with large, round black noses, giving observers a sense of joy and tranquility. However, these outward appearances inadvertently conceal the panda's irritable nature. Giant pandas are difficult to domesticate and tend to become angry when frightened or threatened.
In the wild, giant pandas live in relatively peaceful and secluded natural reserves, away from humans, where they can freely regulate their emotions. In captivity, they lack sufficient freedom and often feel bored and anxious, leading them to vent their anger on those nearby.
In captive environments, giant pandas often develop tendencies towards autism, exhibiting signs of anxiety and irritability when disturbed, feeling unsafe and unwelcome.
Over a long period, humans have made significant efforts to protect giant pandas. However, due to the limited natural habitat of giant pandas, most of them are kept in captivity in parks for conservation purposes, resulting in an unsuitable living environment. This environment not only makes giant pandas prone to irritability but also affects their health.
Although giant pandas have long been adored for their cute and mysterious image, there is no historical record of them being domesticated as pets by ancient civilizations. This may be due to their dietary preferences, natural habitats, and innate behaviors, which make them more suited to living in the wild rather than being confined in cages and becoming human toys.
