These unique bears are well-loved, but they are also becoming rarer and rarer. There are very left in the wild, and many now live in zoos where they can roam and be cared for by animal experts.
The bold black and white coloring provides them camouflage in the thick, dense patches of bamboo. They can grow to about five feet tall and weigh in at around 275 pounds.
They have insatiable appetites for bamboo and will eat up to about 28 pounds of it.
They eat so much of it because bamboo is low in nutrients.
When there isn’t enough bamboo to go around, Pandas will supplement their diets with rodents, fish, and birds. They mate every two to three years and that’s about the only time they become sociable.
They dislike being around their own kind.
Yet it seems that they don’t mind being around humans. So much so they’re willing to trust their young to the men and women who care for them.
Cubs are blind for 50 days and begin crawling at 10 weeks old.
Quan-Quan is nursing while mama grooms him so he’s always handsome for visitors. But unbeknownst to mom, another cub is waiting for his turn for milk. Ling Bing is Quan-Quan’s twin, and to be honest, how can one tell Pandas apart?
They are three months old and when they need to be swapped for some mommy time, the men need to distract mom with food.
Cubs start eating bamboo around 7 to 9 months but still continue nursing.
The twins are swapped every five days and whether or not mama is aware of this fact is anyone’s guess. The keepers need to move fast if the swap is to be made.
She seems distracted enough.
The keepers move like a well-oiled machine. While mama is eating, one carries Quan-Quan out while Ling Bing is brought in. Bamboo distractions don’t last very long. The mission is a success!
Milk drunk and without a care in the world.
Visitors and tourists walk about oblivious to the sleight of hand that just happened. All pandas look the same and they wouldn’t know the difference. But not to the keepers and nurses.
Foster mom could care less who she holds as long as she gets to give them all her love.
It’s a very cute moment and one viewer even says,
“It’s amazing how pandas hold their babies like humans.”
And everyone is glad people are making efforts to conserve and care for these beautiful animals.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family