Panda
- Category
Ecology and Environment
- Published
23rd Mar, 2024
-
Context
National Panda Day is celebrated annually on 16 March to save the species (only 1,864 Panda remaining in the wild).
About
- Pandas are unique bears that are native to China and are easily identifiable by their white face and black eyes and body. There are two sub-species of
Panda-Giant Panda (Ailuridae)
- The giant panda belongs to the Ursidae family (Bears)
- The giant panda inhabits the six major mountain ranges in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces of China.
- IUCN Status: Vulnerable
Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens)
- The red panda belongs to its own taxonomically unique Family: Ailuridae.
- Nearly 50 percent of the red panda's habitat is in the Eastern Himalayas, including Nepal, Tibet, India, Bhutan, and Myanmar.
- IUCN Status: Endangered
- Convergent evolution: The giant panda and the red panda do however share some of the same characteristics and a common ancestor. This is called “convergent evolution”.