Talk:Giant panda/Archive 1

Picture

Tim - nice picture. Did you take this picture? It would be nice to have a comment on where/when it was. If not, it should have a real attribution. --Alan Millar

This is Hua Mei, the baby panda born at the San Diego Zoo nearly two years ago. It was taken summer 2001 when she was a little over 1 year old. - Tim

Translation of the week

There are a some occurrences of wordiness and odd English, for example 'is a favourite of the human public', but since it's locked, I can't edit it. Not sure what to do so I'll just post here. MN June 22, 2007

As I advised on the translation of the week pages: Please, rewrite the parti-coloured bear and Genma Saotome paragraphs. The meaning is not bovious to those who do not know it. Aliter 03:06, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

is the list of panda zoo locations up to date? --ShurTape 23:21, 25 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I've rewritten the section on the naming of the Giant Panda, mainly to consolidate the information in one paragraph. Although it reads somewhat better than it did before, there is one important problem: its factuality. Could someone confirm that the Giant Panda was indeed known as the Mottled Bear or Parti-coloured Bear?

I've also tried to de-emphasise the Sinocentric nature of the article. We know that it has become a lovable symbol of the Chinese state, but is this reason for placing such emphasis on the Chinese name? (Can you find any other animals that get such treatment? The Tanuki was about the only one I could find). The listing of the Chinese name, and only the Chinese name, for the Red Panda is even more reprehensible as this animal is not found only in China.

panda isnt a chinese word. they call them xiong mao.

Bathrobe

Zoo links

Why does this page have a zoo links section? It doesn't seem to add much. I can't see a reason to select one zoo with a giant panda over any other. There might be an argument for a complete list of zoos with pandas, but it is not a very strong argument. I certainly wouldn't want to see it extended to every other page on large mamals. -- Solipsist 05:18, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)

I'd argue that since there are only a few zoos that have giant pandas (due in large part to China's policies about shipping bears abroad and CITES) and those that do have pandas tend to have pretty good panda subsites with lots of information about the research being conducted with them, as well as panda cams and other geegaws, that the links here make sense. But you're right, there's no need for links to every zoo with a giraffe/elephant/lion/etc. Carter 22:49, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)

To add to that, there's only a select number of Pandas found in zoos outside of China. So that's why the links are useful. Is that list comprehensive though... cuz some animals are on like 10 yr leases before they need to be returned to China. --Madchester June 28, 2005 21:12 (UTC)

It is all the U.S. zoos; Mexico City is missing, and the pandas in Japan and Hong Kong; I think there maybe one or two other European zoos that now have pandas, but I'm not certain. 29 June 2005 01:54 (UTC)

I've seen the Pandas in Hong Kong, but that's part of China anyway. --Madchester June 30, 2005 01:02 (UTC)

Well to some extent it was this edit by an anon, switching Zoo Atlanta for San Diego Zoo that prompted my interest. Perhaps the Panda had moved, or perhaps the anon was trying to promote one Zoo over the other. There was no edit summary so I don't know.

From the discussion above, I think it would be better to change this from a list of Zoos Links, to a comprehensive list of Pandas in Zoos, for example giving their name, age, gender, zoo, and loan status. -- Solipsist 30 June 2005 07:12 (UTC)

If it is something useful about pandas, it should be in. Why all the fuss - is there a shortage of pixels here ?!

There is a shortage of bandwidth, and Wikipedia is not a linkfarm. We try not to waste precious bandwidth with endless links to unnecessary pages. Skittle 10:36, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Carnivore? Herbivore?

Despite being taxonomically a carnivore, their diet is overwhelmingly herbivorous. They eat shoots and leaves, living almost entirely on bamboo. Pandas are also known to eat eggs and some insects along with their bamboo diet.

• What is "taxonomically a carnivore"? Joyous June 30, 2005 02:12 (UTC)

It means the panda is classed under the order Carnivora. Mark¹ 30 June 2005 05:07 (UTC)

Kudos to those who managed to sneak eats shoots and leaves into the text. Keep it this way. :) --Mzabaluev 13:32, 2 August 2005 (UTC)

Kind of a shame the commas were missing. Joyous (talk) 14:42, August 2, 2005 (UTC)

Funny. I was just on my way here to comment on the same hting. Bravo whoever managed it. Skittle 14:01, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

Hah, I came in here to say the same thing! --Bluejay Young 18:51, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

I totally loved the fact this article snuck the "eats shoots and leaves" comment into the text, but I'm really sad it's not there anymore. 69.230.174.211 (talk) 05:12, 24 December 2007 (UTC)

Whatever the technicalities or taxonomics, because Pandas eat both meat and plants they are omnivores not carnivores. The "taxonomically" just means Pandas are as Mark said, scientifically named a carnivore (Carnivora) because they can eat meat. Really, though, they're omnivorous because both meat and plants are a significant part of their diet. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/omnivorousTrillian627 16:11, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

Lots and lots of Pandas

I'm not really a part of this page, but I have to ask: Are you sure that there are 1,600,000,000 (1.6 billion, that is) pandas in the wild? and if so, why are they endangered? Just wanted to bring that up before some elementary school kid uses this in his/her report.

That was a little piece of vandalism that's been reverted. Thanks for catching it. Joyous (talk) 17:23, August 3, 2005 (UTC)

lol, 1.6 billion?! thats quite the vandalism... that would mean that for every 4 humans, their is 1 panda. DurotarLord 21:22, 19 July 2007 (UTC)

Panda names

Thee giant panda has had over 30,000 names in its lifetime Can someone get a source for this? --Adamrush 17:00, 30 October 2005 (UTC)

It's been changed again, to I think 300000,000 names in its lifetime. Why are people so lame? Mikeythetiger 07:22, 6 December 2005 (UTC)

"Bear cat" or "Cat Bear" - Perhaps the fact that in Taiwan, they sometimes read Chinese words from right to left is the cause for this confusion. Would someone from Taiwan comment on this? Teresaclin 19:46, 25 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm not from Taiwan but I understand "cat-bear" is correct. --Bluejay Young 23:36, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

In Honk Kong, its called "bear-cat". tess (talk) 01:29, 14 December 2007 (UTC)

Bamboo "hard to digest"

There has to be a better way of describing this. A diet staple shouldn't be described as "hard" to digest. It might be a low-nutrition diet, or it might be indigestible, but presumably, pandas aren't staying away from bamboo because of the effort involved.

Since a description of panda feces adds so little to an otherwise interesting article, I'm deleting it. Should someone want to put it back, may I suggest, "Their primary diet of bamboo is evident in their feces."

The original troublesome sentence was: "Pandas find bamboo hard to digest, which leads to their feces being green in color and full of undigested bamboo." RPellessier (Talk) 16:47, 20 November 2005 (UTC)

Reproduction

"Mating is also a very noisy time, accompanied by moaning and squealing." Is this really necessary? It seems to me to be a rather gratuitous statement.

We should add some phrasing to describe the artificial insemination procedures currently being used to increase the numbers of pandas worldwide. Something to this effect: "...and zoologists have been successfully breeding pandas for worldwide zoos by using artificial insemination."

I think you need to exchange naked with furless.

Can anyone find out the average length of a Giant Panda's Penis? Just interested to see if anything along the lines of polar bears' penises shrinking having something to do with their decrease in population is related. 71.111.82.107 03:02, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

As long as where at it, can someone find out if female pandas give male pandas blowjobs? DurotarLord 21:24, 19 July 2007 (UTC) Ya thats right, im not ashamed... im signing this...

Merging

It was suggested at Butterstick that that article be merged into this one. I personally oppose this merge; I'll be removing the merge tag in a few days if nobody objects. No reason that one giant panda needs to be mentioned in this article, it would be America-centrism. Meelar (talk) 01:40, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

Agreed, famous pandas can have their own articles :) Matthewmayer 17:40, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

Agree. -- Миборовский ^{U|T|C|E|Chugoku Banzai!} 02:10, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

Why dont people clone pandas? We have the technology. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.9.148.14 (talk) 17:20, 18 December 2007 (UTC)

Natural enemies

What are the natural enemies of the panda? Is it the top of the food chain? Why could it 'degenerate' into this slow, highly unsuccesful at reproduction kind of creature it is?--Heidegger 04:17, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

Effectively none. A tiger might take an odd one, but it would have to be a very brave tiger. Therein lies the problem; animals with few or no predators have adapted to have very low population increase rates, to avoid overpopulation. When a predator (man) does appear, it has no easy ability to recoup the losses. - MPF 23:12, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

Leopards are the primary concern of young cubs. That's why they spend so much time in trees.... mom takes off o forage, the cub climbs, making it hard for leopards to pounce. Adult pandas have no natural predators. - suz 23:12, 12 january 2006 (UTC)

It's true that those skilled in Panda arousal techniques can earn significant sums of money - why has this been deleted?!!!

Cite your sources please. Boneheadmx 13:05, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Like almost, if not all other bears, it is the top of the food chain although their youngs can be vulnerable. HistoryManiac 17:21, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

First Surviving Cubs in North America

It's true that Hua Mei and half-brother Mei Sheng were the first surviving giant panda cubs born in the US, after the series of 5 cubs of Ling-Ling/Hsing-Hsing that died shortly after birth. However, these San Diego pandas don't have the distinction of being North America's first surviving cubs; that honor belongs to the Chapultepec Zoo, whose three older females were all bred and born in Mexico in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Tohui was the first gigant panda born and survive in a zoo outside China. She (despite the name which means "boy" in Nahuatl -the Aztecs' language) born in Mexico City's Chapultepec zoo on July 21 1981 (reference can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1981). Since then 8 gigant pandas have born in Chapultepec zoo, including "Xin Xin" who is a daughter of Tohui.

Binomial Name

Just wondering if anyone knows why the binomial name hasn't been changed to refelct the genetic findings that pandas are bears? Anyone know about the background of this? Is there a time-frame, still debate, or what? Jafafa Hots 06:30, 7 February 2006 (UTC)''''''''']]]

Is a panda a bear??

Suppose there were a poll of 1000 people for asking whether a panda is a bear (not just an animal that looks like a bear.) How close would it be to a 500-500 tie?? Georgia guy 01:29, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

Most people would also call a koala a bear (when its actually a marsupial), and a hyena a dog. Doesn't make them right! Slow Graffiti 19:39, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

Pandas and koalas are bears in English—whether or not they are in biology—the use of language not being one of those fields where logic and science are strictly applied. —Muke Tever talk (la.wiktionary) 12:17, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

Since there is a scientific debate, at least according to this article, a section on the scientific debate would be called for. However, the classification bar on the side says that pandas are in urisidae, meaning that there is some scientific consensus that they are bears (urisidae is the bear family.) 160.94.183.213 18:00, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

Pandas are actually marsupials because they give birth to their young in a pouch, not live birth like bears.--Aeryck89 10:53, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Uhm, at the risk of responding to a troll, no they aren't and no they don't. Koalas are marsupials; Pandas are not. Pandas are bears; this has been established by DNA tests. (source: personal communication, Dr. David Powell, National Zoo, 2001) I'm editing "on-going" out of the main article. Carter 16:24, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

Technically, Giant pandas are more related to the bear then the racoon, while red pandas are more related to the racoon then the bear

GA nomination

I've nominated this article for good article on sheer impulse since I personally think this is a great article. (Not that I know much about pandas to start with.) If this goes well maybe we could have a peer review on this thing and perhaps make it a FA? --deadkid_dk 09:29, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

I've just been reviewing the article after its GA nomination, and I think it is a very fine article - eminently readable and interesting. I haven't promoted it just yet though, because I wanted to make a suggestion about the pandas in popular culture section. I am really not a fan of these sections because I feel their encyclopaedic value is very low. Many of the items listed are extremely tangential, and there are probably thousands of things that could be listed. As a bulleted list it can't really be considered compelling prose. What I think is that the section should be converted into prose, discuss only four or five examples, and be a little bit more analytical of why pandas are popular things.

Also, the lead section could do with being a bit longer and summarising more of the article content. Worldtraveller 11:17, 14 March 2006 (UTC)

Yes, some scientists believe pandas are bears, while the rest think they are raccons because of their relatives, the red panda.

Omnivore?

I'm a little confused... The Bear article says that Bears are in the Order Carnivore, but this article says the Panda is in the Order Omnivore. Is one of the articles wrong? Phauge 15:59, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Good catch. I've corrected this. The Giant Panda does belong to the family Ursidae, which is certainly in the Order Carnivora, regardless of its diet. There is no order Omnivore or Omnivora. The error was made by 65.19.54.238 on March 15, 2005. - Slow Graffiti 05:12, 21 March 2006(UTC)

Thanks. Sorry I didn't sign in earlier. I'm no scientist, but something about Order Omnivore just didn't seem right. Phauge 15:59, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Subspecies

The article has information on two subspecies, including Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis which "is restricted to the Qinling Mountains in Shaanxi." Is there a source for this information? I ask not for justification, but actually out of my own curiousity. I'd like to read about this bear and see its color variation. Thanks! - Slow Graffiti 06:39, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Nevermind about that particular reference; I located the Journal of Mammalogy article listed in the references. Now...does anyone have a picture or another reference? - Slow Graffiti 06:52, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

Fact-checking

Is it really true that the binomial name was assigned before the genus? --zenohockey 03:04, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

Usually that indicates that the appellative (I forget the exact term, but it's 'melanoleuca' in this case) was assigned to a different genus, and then moved into this one when it was created. I understand it is customary to credit the giver of the appellative for the binomial name as a whole. (But if I am wrong on this point, I am sure someone will correct me). —Muke Tever talk (la.wiktionary) 23:21, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

Born blind and naked.

Like wow, no one could have ever figured this out! Thanks a lot article!

Endangered vs. Vulnerable

User:68.17.157.176 keeps changing the conservation status from Endangered to Vulnerable.

In 1984 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the giant panda as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. Endangered means a species is considered in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. [1]

The lovable and charismatic panda is one of the most popular animals in the world. Unfortunately, it is also one of the most endangered. [2]

An Endangered Species Profile: Giant Panda

Why are pandas endangered?

Jokestress 04:25, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure what you ask for but, in wikipedia the panda should be listed as Endangered, see Wikipedia:WikiProject_Tree_of_Life/taxobox_usage#Conservation status for where the data should be taken from IUCN and see [3] for their current classification which is EN B1+2c, C2a ver 2.3 (1994), where EN means Endangered. So you are correct and can revert back to endangered. Stefan 06:08, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Thanks. Note that same changes were made today by User:208.61.147.24. I reverted them. Jokestress 17:15, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

Same changes were made today by User:68.17.131.53. I reverted them. Jokestress 16:46, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

It is my understanding that the population of Pandas has tripled in the past six months. Why is this not reflected in the article?

Can you provide a source? --- Hong Qi Gong 03:12, 2 August 2006 (UTC)

I think that this may be a prank imitating the recent episode of the Colbert Report where Colbert claimed to change the wiki page for "Elephant" to say that the elephant population has tripled. Someone changed the main page to claim that the panda population has tripled in the past 6 months, and given their slow rate of reproduction and the difficulty of reproduction in captivity, I find that to be basically impossible to be true.

Wait a minute, this doesn't have anything to do with the 16 baby pandas at Sichuan Wolong, does it? --Bluejay Young 18:54, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

im not a wikipedia member, but in 1974-1977, about 1100 wild pandas lived in Asia. In 1986, that number was reduced to a population of only about 700. I am doing a project of the panda, so i won't use alot of this info. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.255.183.63 (talk) 19:20, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

The official site of IUCN shows that the giant panda is an endangered species (Specialist Group 1996. Ailuropoda melanoleuca. In: IUCN 2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.). Better have the status changed.(218.102.66.227 (talk) 04:08, 31 May 2008 (UTC))

Coloration

I don't know anything about pandas, but I'm interested to know the evolutionary reason for their coloration. Perhaps a more knowledgeable editor can add this info to the article. Mrestko 08:21, 21 June 2006 (UTC)

there is an ancient folktale about a panda who was with a girl with her sheep. a wolf came and the panda ran away, and the girl died. the panda and his family went to her funeral and cried and wept so loud, they put their paws over their ears, covering them with permenent ashes. I am sure this is not true, but it is a very nice folktale. Note: i am not a wikipedia member. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.255.183.63 (talk) 19:22, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

Controversy

The controversey section of this page seems more along the lines of vandalism than actual relavant information and should be deleted from the main article or be better explained and referenced (if this is a widespread belief)

Fixed, thanks. Henry^Flower 08:57, 4 July 2006 (UTC)

Population Update

I just read the National Geographic Magazine, July 2006 (http://www.ngm.com/0607). The article titled "Panda, Inc." says that at the end of 2005, there were 188 giant pandas in captivity, and a large number of healthy cubs delivered in 2005 have "pushed the captive population closer to a magic number: 300." The Wikipedia page says that the captive population is 100. Does this need to be updated?

Pop. Culture

Could mention that a panda is the logo for the enjoi skateboard company in the popular culture section.

WWF is World Wildlife Fund .. not whatever was there..

and Sanrio has "Pandapple" not pandaba

Reproduction changes

I've read in National Geographic that pandas being slow breeders is wrong. The magazine states that "studies have shown that wild pandas reproduce about as robustly as NA brown bears: On average, a wild female will have a cub every other year for some 15 years, adding 5-6 new pandas to the population over her lifetime" Please help to make more necessary changes as my English vocabulary is not that great although I've already made some changes to the section. HistoryManiac 16:56, 5 September 2006 (UTC)

Here's something else I don't understand...if they reproduce quickly, why is their birthrate so low? It seems the article is a bit contradictory. Smooth0707

I think they have high infant death rates. They normally have twins, but in the wild usually one dies before or after birth.Thylacine lover 02:42, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

188 -> 300 in captivity?

I found the claim in the summary a little suspicious a growth in captive population of over a third in less than a year? So I checked the source. The National Geographic article says that the successful breeding has brought the population closer to the magic number of 300. 300 is a goal number that zoologists say will allow them to sustain the species in captivity if necessary. So while it's technically true that any increase brings the population closer to 300, having that in the summary is misleading. --SiobhanHansa 14:20, 14 September 2006 (UTC)

Jo Ling

I cant find any other reference to JoLing living in Sydney. Can anybody confirm if the information is true or not? --218.215.128.231 12:12, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

This is almost certainly untrue. There are no other references and the last pandas to visit Australia (Melbourne in the 1990s from memory) were a major media event Ss11 14:03, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

I've deleted it. If someone can find a reference it's easy enough to put back. The other contributions of the editor who added it User:Dkexpress, are equally obscure. --Siobhan Hansa 21:47, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

pandas are fish?

"is a fish classified in the tortoise family"

• That's been fixed, thanks for pointing it out. Kappa 00:45, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

Longest labour?

"after a record 35-hour labor."

"The whole process lasted about 34 hours and was the longest in the history of panda reproduction"

These are two different pandas. Which is it? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Scraimer (talk • contribs) 06:18, 15 December 2006 (UTC).

Main picture

We need a close-up of that bastard as main pic. --PandaHunter 01:04, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

• The one there is very pixelated
  • I have been bold, taken your suggestion, and uploaded a new, high quality picture of a panda that I took at the National Zoo in DC. It's not perfect but it's much better than the pixelated one that was there before. Per my comment below, however, I do not know the name of panda, as I am unable to ID which of the Zoo's pandas it is. Are there any experienced panda experts out there who can ID, so that the caption can include the panda's name? Thanks! ... Also, I moved the old picture of Hua Mei further down the page. --Asiir 11:48, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

Purpose?

What purpose do they serve in their perspective ecosystem: what do they do that keeps balance in their ecosystem? I can think of no purpose -- surely they're important for something within their ecosystem.. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by FDD19 (talk • contribs) 02:50, 17 December 2006 (UTC).

Why does every plant or animal require a purpose? What is the purpose of tribal people living inside the Amazon? Why do you think that everything needs to significantly make an impact on their environment? BTW are you a manager at a corporation? 66.171.76.176 18:52, 25 December 2006 (UTC)

Not a manager at a corp. Nature usually has a reason for having creatures; Ants fungi flies etc to clean up dead animals/plants etc. Perhaps they can no longer fullfil their intended role and nature is running its course to their eventual extinction.

Diet

The article makes it sound as if the panda would rather eat meat just like other bears if it wasn't for the fact that they are too slow to catch prey. How does the author know that?

Deleted line

I deleted the following:

The only considered medical use was probably of panda urine, to melt needles accidentally swallowed in the throat.

This didn't make sense and there was no citation. Maybe vandalism? --Atomicskier 17:01, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

please delete vandalism

I'm a noob to editing, and for some reason cannot see the following (under General Information) on the "edit" page:

Another appendage on the panda is very, very, very, very large and long...DO NOT GET CLOSE TO IT!!!

These people make me quite angry. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.225.174.82 (talk) 03:09, 5 January 2007 (UTC).

Recent vandalism, I feel, has made it necessary to enable protection. --ICECommander

Pop-culture pandas

Under the heading 'Pandas in popular culture' it is speculated that the incident with the drunken person trying to hug Gu Gu(the panda in Beijing) is related to the Pandaren in WarCraft. This is not true as WarCraft III - Frozen Throne was released in 2003(2004 in japan) and the incident i Beijing took place in september 2006([[4]]) Disregarding the possibility that Blizzard predicted this incident.

The animated television series 'Father of the Pride' also had two pandas as recurring characters. The female(and depressed) panda Foo-Lin and the male panda Nelson/Bong-Bong 193.130.97.35 13:04, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

are any pandas

bred from those that weren't part of the newer restrictive loan system (that made babies chinas property) and so actually owned by other countries still arround or are they all owned by china? Plugwash 02:40, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

I think that this species of panda is extremly intresting and there should be more research done

Suggested merge for North American panda cubs

Does any one object to putting the details of the 3 new North American panda cubs in their respective pages, and decreasing the clutter here? Their pages already exist. --tess 22:50, 12 February 2007 (UTC)

Tess, could you point us to the actual pages? In theory it sounds reasonable, but some of these more focused articles that have a significant amount of public interest have a tendency to overwhelm the more, erm, encyclopedic information in a broader article so I'd like to look at what they're currently like and what the activity level is before offering a specific opinion. Thanks. -- Siobhan Hansa 03:05, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

Please see Mei Lan, Tai Shan (panda), and Su Lin. --tess 18:23, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

Since there were no objections, I've done this. However, a prose account of efforts to breed pandas in North America might be more useful than the list I currently have. Chick Bowen 17:47, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

Old Chinese Panda Myth in the Conservation Status Section

Specifically: In ancient China a myth was told to explain the peculiar colouring of the Giant Panda. It was written that the Panda was originally entirely white and that the black markings occured from staining from black clothes they had donned to mourn the shepherdess who had saved one of their kind from a wild animal. The pandas hugged and cried and the dye of their clothing ran down to make permanent markings on their fur.

Does this have ANYTHING to do with the conversation status? I will delete this soon if no one have any objections. Beside, it doesn't even have sources. Yongke 21:54, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

Form 2 Project Not to be dumb or anything but I am doing a report for school on the panda and can someone please answer these questions for me? 1.What is the pandas natural habitat? 2.How does the panda protect itself from danger?

Thanks in advance

1. You may want to read the article.
2. It doesn't have predators, so far as I know, but in case of attack, it will lash out with its large claws.

bibliomaniac15 04:10, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

Panda identification

Being a photographer and not an animal expert, I have some pictures of pandas from the National Zoo in Washington, DC (including one on the Panda page), but I don't know which animal is which. Is there anyone who can ID them and add their names to the caption? Thanks. --Asiir 11:29, 16 March 2007 (UTC)

Pandas are not bears

Pandas are not bears

YES they are. http://www.greatbear.org/pandabear.htm ; http://www.bears.org/animals/panda/

Lease amount conflict

In one part of the article, we say the lease is $1M a year... in another it is $2M a year. Which one is right? Do we have references? brain 16:48, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

Why is "Panda" capitalized?

The canonical name for this article is "Giant_Panda", rather than "Giant_panda" (which redirects here), and in some places in the article, "Panda" is capitalized. Is there a reason for this? To the best of my knowledge, "panda" is not a proper noun. Webster's dictionary lists it under both "panda" and "giant panda"; there is no capitalized entry. Similarly for most web resources. I don't know offhand how to rename the article, but I'll investigate unless there's a reason for its capitalization.James A. Stewart 08:39, 27 April 2007 (UTC)

Article should be renamed. We'll need an admin to help however since Giant panda is an already existing page, albeit it redirects to this one. hateless 22:28, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

Although they are not proper nouns, it is a convention for the common names of species to be capitalized. --Ptcamn 22:38, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

See Wikipedia:Naming conventions (fauna)#Capitalization_of_common_names_of_species Graft | talk 23:24, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

I'm confused. Wikipedia:Naming conventions (fauna)#Capitalization_of_common_names_of_species seems to contradict itself, by claiming you should use lowercase common names, listing a few common-sense exceptions (e.g. first word in a sentence), and then listing some examples of articles where both words in the species name are capitalized, such as Bald Eagle. I don't think it's that big a deal, so I'm not going to do anything about it, but if anyone can clarify further, please do so. There's still inconsistent use of "giant panda" vs. "Giant panda" vs. "Giant Panda" throughout the article as well, but I'm hesitant to change any of them until I can understand why they're not all "giant panda". James A. Stewart (talk) 22:33, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

The assertion in the article you refer to says official common names of birds are normally capitalised. Thus birds are treated exceptionally. Common names of non birds would usually not be capitalized. In this case "giant panda" should be uncapitalized, except at the start of a sentence where it would be "Giant panda".128.230.72.220 (talk) 20:43, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

I am confused about the number of pandas

on this website it sayes 3000 on another website it sayes 1000 —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.184.123.208 (talk) 00:13, 9 May 2007 (UTC).

Living fossil

This line:

The giant panda is a living fossil.[7]

does source the claim, but the source provides no proof that the panda has, in fact, been around for millions of years: it just states it. Should it be removed? Octane ^{[improve me]} 15.07.07 0323 (UTC)

Gray or White species of Panda

"AFP, Beijing - Chinese scientists exploring a natural reserve in the province of Shaanxi have discovered two previously unknown species of Panda, an animal threatened with extinction. Unlike the usual black and white checkered Panda bears, their fur is either gray or white. No information about the number of animals was given."

http://web.ncf.ca/bz050/HomePage.panda.html

Anyone able to find any further information about this? --NeF 12:50, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

Reproduction contradiction?

-The conservation section and the reproduction section create some ambiguity in the panda's birthrate, procreated by the following quotations. "Giant pandas are an endangered species, threatened by continued habitat loss and by a very low birthrate" and "Contrary to popular belief, Giant pandas do not reproduce slowly" in the respective sections.

Maybe this can be made a little bit more clear?

The "Contrary to popular belief, Giant pandas do not reproduce slowly." should be removed as this is just someones opinion. Instead the birhtrate should be compared to other animals, like say a rabbit and a demestic cat. I think this would prove that the birthrate is low. Pandamad 02:56, 16 October 2007 (UTC)

Help with Posting Picture

I have a couple of recent photos of 2 very very cute TWIN baby pandas (100 days old). How do I post the photos?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Wikiwikipanda (talk • contribs) 04:55, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

I have photos tew! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.105.242.227 (talk) 05:21, 29 February 2008 (UTC)

Pandas in zoos

Madrid zoo will have two new pandas from September of this year. Can someone please update the information? http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/08/03/ciencia/1186136569.html

The two new pandas (Bing Xing, male age 7 and 150 Kg ; Hua Zui Ba, female age 4 and 90 Kg) are already in Madrid. They arrived in Madrid Zoo Aquarium on Monday 8th September 2007 from Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Center (China). The two pandas have been lent to the zoo by Chinese Government with reproductive expectations. They are going to be showed to all the zoo visitors from next October 2007. Can someone please update the information? Thank you. User:Andresito 23:10, 09 Sep 2007 (UTC)

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/09/08/europe/EU-GEN-Spain-China-Pandas.php

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_12360.shtml

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/09/08/ciencia/1189257347.html

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2007/09/09/ciencia/1189357911.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.179.2.125 (talk) 22:15, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

There is a Giant Panda at the Shanghai Zoo in China. I didn't see that one listed, so I thought I'd mention it here. I just returned from China last week. We were supposed to visit the panda facility in Chengdu, but because of the earthquake our tour group was diverted to Hong Kong and then to Shanghai, and visiting the panda at the Shanghai Zoo was supposed to make up for us having missed the pandas in Chengdu. At the Shanghai Zoo, there was one Giant Panda -- our tour guide didn't know his name, but she said that it was male and it was an older Panda (he was huge). I'm not sure why they didn't take us to see the four pandas in Hong Kong instead, except that admission to Ocean Park (where the Pandas are in Hong Kong) was probably more expensive than the Shanghai Zoo, which was undergoing a lot of construction when we were there. Skibbytidoodah (talk) 22:45, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

Giant Pandas

Why are pandas always pink when they are born? I understand that humans are also pink, but I still would like to know why? If you know please reply. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 68.187.85.198 (talk) 22:55:35, August 18, 2007 (UTC)

New panda cub

Bai Yun at the San Diego Zoo had a fourth cub on August 3. The article mentions the Vienna cub born on August 23 but not this one. Gender is still unknown. The father is Gao Gao, slso father of her second and third cubs Mei Sheng and Su Lin. Meanwhile, Mei Sheng is due to leave the zoo and return to China in October under the terms of the loan agreement for the pandas. Debbzi 10:59, 2 September 2007 (UTC)

Giant Panda

There is a line that simple says "The Giant Panda is amazing! LOL!". I fail to see how this contributes any useful knowledge to the article. It really ought to be removed entirely.

Myrikh 14:29, 12 September 2007 (UTC)Myrikh 12 September 2007

The vandalism has been reverted. Thanks! -- SiobhanHansa 15:38, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

SORT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

now i am not very amused with the way this website is giving us the wrong infomation--------SORT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.242.202.72 (talk) 06:56, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

The giant panda is the unofficial mascot of the women's fraternity Alpha Omicron Pi. I think this would be an interesting addition to the "Panda's in Popular Culture" section. Denunehb 13:30, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

"dane pwns at halo" probably doesn't belong in this article...

"dane pwns at halo" probably doesn't belong in this article, at the start of the 2nd paragraph under diet Chmielea 19:48, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

I removed it. Next time, be bold and remove vandalism yourself if you see it. bibliomaniac15 20:27, 9 October 2007 (UTC)

thanks! i tried to edit it but my account was too new Chmielea 19:36, 10 October 2007 (UTC)

Saveing the pandas

As we all know, panda bears are endangered. We all need to do something to save them. It doesnt matter if its sending letters to the wildlife, or writing a paper and showing it to people, we just need to do somthing to help them!

I love pandas. I hope knowbody hates them. I want to help any animal. WE HAVE TO SAVE THESE ANIMALS!! signed, Grant or lovingheartforanimals —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lovingheartforanimals (talk • contribs) 01:25, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

racoon controversy

why is there mention of the controversy as to whether the giant panda is a bear or related to lesser pandas and in the racoon family http://bss.sfsu.edu/holzman/courses/Spring99Projects/panda.htm http://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/panda-hibernation2.htm —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.72.241.193 (talk) 06:08, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

Wolong Nature Reserve Link

Can someone please edit this article to include a Wikipedia link to the Wolong Nature Reserve? Thanks! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.182.46.84 (talk) 01:06, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

Outdated Map

The map depicting the range of the Panda appears to date from the days of the USSR. Could one of our talented map editors replace it with a more up to date political map? BigKennyK (talk) 03:10, 14 August 2008 (UTC)

pandas are cute —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.219.86.21 (talk) 14:23, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Wrong Status

Its locked from editing, but they gave the panda a status of being endangered but they are critically endangered!!! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.192.167.30 (talk) 15:04, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

According to The World Wildlife Federation, you are incorrect. OlYeller^Talktome 20:15, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Links Broken

This article is locked for editing, but the external links are almost all out of date, this is dumb, it should take me half a second to rectify broken links, will any admin even see this message?Denito (talk) 12:54, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

It's only semi-protected so you don't need an admin, just a user who's been around for a short time. Looking at your edit history I believe you should be able to edit semi-protected articles. If you've tried and find you can't, list which links are broken and what they should be replaced with and I can make the changes on your behalf. -- SiobhanHansa 18:33, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

Taxonomic history

I think there should be a subsection covering this aspect. For many years it was widely debated if the panda was a bear or a procyonid (relative of raccoons) and it even occupied its own family -Ailuropodidae- at some point. The red panda has followed a similar histry. Finally, DNA tests and other genetic technologies proved that the giant panda is indeed a bear, and the red panda a procyonid - the only procyonis that lives today outside the Americas in natural form. I lack the sources or the time to include this in a good shape. Can somebody write about it?--Menah the Great (talk) 16:41, 3 February 2008 (UTC)

Is this Article Locked?

The Edit this page tab isn't showing up for me, but it doesn't say that the article is locked either. What's going on?206.174.3.88 (talk) 09:11, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

The article is protected from editing by new and unregistered editors. If you register account you should be able to edit in within a few days. Or else you can use to {{editprotected}} template on this page and an admin will make the edit on your behalf. Rockpocket 09:15, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

Pandas living outside of China

You say there are 27 panda's living outside of china, but if you count whats on your site there actually 36. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.62.228.113 (talk) 01:59, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

the only pandas outside china are in zoo's BONDIGE —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jennifer purplepanda (talk • contribs) 14:56, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Pandas living outside of China: Spain

In 1978 China presented the King of spain with two pandas, Shao Shao and Quian Quiang. Their cub, Chu-lin, born in 1982 died in 1996. Chu-lin was the first panda born in captivity in Europe (http://perfectpandas.com/2007/10/04/pandas-gigantes-in-madrid-zoo/ -). [5] [6] and [7] --Karljoos (talk) 15:15, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Pandas and Chinese law

Shouldn't there be more info regarding China's laws on pandas, eg, capital punishment on panda poaching, and the ban of dipicting panda deaths in video games?--PCPP (talk) 02:12, 27 February 2008 (UTC)

== Adventure World information is outdated == edit protected

Adventure World, Shirahama, Wakayama - Eimei (M), Meimei (F), Rauhin (F), Kouhin (M), Aihin (F) and Meihin (M). Yu Hin (M) went to China in 2004. Ryu Hin and Syu Hin (male twins) went to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in China in October 2007. In December 2006, twin cubs Aihin and Meihin were born to Ei Mei and Mei Mei. Pandapoly (talk) 20:44, 6 March 2008 (UTC) pandapoly

Cubs "returned" to China

The article states that panda cubs born in the U.S. were "returned" to china. Since the panda cubs were never previously in china (regardless of the fact that they are chinese property), returned does not seem to convey the correct action. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.246.59.61 (talk) 08:58, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

could you think of a better word? :\ 124.13.241.52 (talk) 08:31, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

"returned" is the right word. Imagine your mother is working overseas and she gives birth to your brother there, it'd be fair to say that one day your mother and your new born brother will return to their home country. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Reyn116 (talk • contribs) 14:48, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

It's a loan. Here is a NYT article that describes the arrangement. Obviously, China thinks US is rich, since they charge US zoos like 6-7 times what they charge Thailand zoos. --Voidvector (talk) 00:23, 30 May 2008 (UTC)

US is rich compared to Thailand. --70.128.119.10 (talk) 09:55, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

Legally, China lays claim in its contracts that any new born pandas at overseas zoos are property of the country. So technically this is a true phrase for the time being. Physically, until pandas establish habitat elsewhere in the world, it would be difficult for a country to assert that it owns any panda (ie: where else can you find bamboo forests?). .:DavuMaya:. 23:16, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

You wikipedos are soo pretentious some times. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.199.176.178 (talk) 04:16, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Name section (grammar edit)

why is this article locked? anyway, here's an edit of the name section to fix the grammar.

The name "panda" originates from a Himalayan language, possibly Nepali. As used in the West the name was originally applied to the red panda. Until its relation to the red panda was discovered in 1901, the giant panda was known as "Mottled Bear" (Ailuropus melanoleucus) or "Particolored Bear".

The Chinese name for the giant panda, 大熊貓, literally translates to "large bear cat," or just "bear cat" (熊貓). There are two explanations for the origin of this name.

Physiologically, the eyes of most other bear species have round pupils, but giant pandas have pupils that are vertical slits like cats' eyes. These unusual eyes, combined with its ability to effortlessly scale trees, may be what inspired the Chinese to call the panda "bear cat." However, this explanation seem unlikely as locals from different provinces use names such as "spotted bear" (花熊) and "bamboo bear" (竹熊) for giant panda, which shows that the farmers are more likely to use "bear" as the noun when they see an obviously bear-shaped animal.

On the other hand, some researchers believe the name "bear cat," originally belonged to the red panda, which also live on bamboo in China, and are actually cat-size. When Himalayans first saw the giant panda, they named it "large bear cat," due to the similarities in behaviors and habitat. This would also explain why Chinese zoological texts and dictionaries published in the early 20th century always used the word "large" in the name.

In Taiwan, the modern name for panda is "cat bear," (貓熊), where cat is grammatically the adjective and bear is the noun. Although many researchers have found this name to be likely derived from misunderstandings of writing formats,[23] "cat bear" makes more sense logically and thus there are no efforts to change the name back to the original name of "large bear cat." Some even propose that "cat bear" should be the official Chinese name internationally.[24]

• • • — Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.35.95.69 (talk) 00:20, June 14, 2008

I have improved and cut down this section. There are dozens of names for the same animal, we don't need to really explain all of them, only the important ones. .:DavuMaya:. 23:11, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Reminder about copyright violation

I would remind all editors of this article especially anonymous IPs of Wikipedias rules on Wikipedia:Copyright violations. After Googling several blocks of text on this page, I found multiple occurrences of copy paste from websites into WP. It's very important you do not literally copy text from other websites into Wikipedia pages. It won't hurt you to try and restate the text in an encyclopedic manner and offer a source back which is how scholars do it. You can read an explanation of what a reliable source is and how to use Wikipedia:Citation templates which auto-generate your source into the References list. .:DavuMaya:. 20:21, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

The name "Panda" comes from...

According to Scienceray.com, the name “panda” is Nepali and means “bamboo eater.” :3

here! Nessisasquid (talk) 21:41, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Chinese name

This really isn't needed. If we're going to include it, however, it should be included in a {{Chinese}} template instead of in the article prose, because it's basically just a big blob of unreadable symbols in the prose. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 17:34, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

i don't get it. "really isn't needed"? why not? - Metanoid (talk, email) 18:41, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Because it's incomprehensible to the vast majority of readers and thus completely useless in the prose. Wikipedia is not a translating dictionary, and the introduction is meant to draw people into the article, not put them off by being full of things which have no value to them. Chris Cunningham (not at work) - talk 18:55, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

One could also add that the Tasmanian Devil page does not translate its name into Palawa kani. The Eurasian badger page does not translate its name into all the languages of Eurasia. The Indian Elephant page does not begin with translations of its name into the 500 languages of India. And a darn good thing too. That's why scientists invented Latin names. Cop 663 (talk) 20:21, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

there are, however, entries wherein the names of species native to non-english-speaking locales are given in the most common local vernacular(s). i am not arguing for the ridiculous notion that we should include every single common name in every single regional language! but one or three of the most common seems appropriate enough for an encyclopedia, imo (especially when the organism in question is endemic to a relatively restricted geographic location, as, say, with giant pandas and tassie devils). sure, the chinese script itself may be indecipherable to us, but why not the anglicized version of same (eg, "big bear cat")? is there policy or consensus leaning away from this? - Metanoid (talk, email) 00:06, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

There's no harm in the information itself (there's already a longish section discussing its Chinese name at Giant_Panda#Name), but it doesn't belong in the lead, because it's not crucial to the subject: pandas may happen to live in China, but the fact that Chinese people speak a particular language and give them a particular name is of minimal importance to pandas themselves and to the study of pandas. It's an interesting sidenote, not something so vital as to belong in the first sentence of an English language article (unlike the Latin name, which is important if you're studying pandas). The policy would be WP:LEAD, which says "The emphasis given to material in the lead [section] should roughly reflect its importance to the topic according to reliable sources".Cop 663 (talk) 01:04, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

ah, ok. that makes sense. thanks - Metanoid (talk, email) 01:56, 5 July 2008 (UTC)

Panda Cams

Please note that the Memphis Zoo also has a Panda Cam so those visiting their website (www.memphiszoo.org)can see Ya Ya and Le Le. More information about the world-class Memphis Zoo can be read at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/memphis_zoo AnnePB (talk) 18:09, 25 July 2008 (UTC)

Since you mention this, I wanna ask other users' opinion in adding "Panda cams" sub-section under "Pandas on television" (or changing the term "television" to "media") in the article. Also move the "Ocean Park Hong Kong broadcasting their panda cam thur pay-TV channel" part to this section because both share the same nature. -- Sameboat - 同舟 (talk) 03:56, 8 August 2008 (UTC)

99% bamboo?

"...the panda has a diet which is 99% bamboo." Is this a legitimate statistic, or just someone's way of saying "almost entirely bamboo?" 72.188.57.92 (talk) 00:41, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Misspelling

Article locked so I can't edit under pandas living in zoos

1. Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia - home of Lun Lun (F), Yang Yang (M), Mei Lan (F), and a male cub born on Auguest 30, 2008[34]

Elvisisntdead (talk) 05:39, 11 October 2008 (UTC) Thanks

Fixed. - UtherSRG (talk) 05:58, 11 October 2008 (UTC)

Color of their tail

The article describes the length, but are their tails of a particular color? Just a curious question I got asked recently Miaire (talk) 10:54, 18 October 2008 (UTC) I think their tails are white. 74.33.174.133 (talk) 14:40, 6 December 2008 (UTC)

How big are their claws?

This is coming up due to Kung Fu Panda. We need to know. ClintJCL (talk) 02:14, 20 November 2008 (UTC)

Panda Diplomacy (with Taiwan)

The Panda Diplomacy section mentions how Taiwan has not accepted the gift of Pandas from China as of November 2007. A recent article from Sky News reports the following:

"The enclosure for the incoming pandas from China, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, whose names when said together means ”unite”, is seen during a test-run of the opening of the panda house inside the Taipei zoo in Muzha December 18, 2008. A long-awaited pair of giant pandas from Taiwans political rival China should reach the island two days before Christmas, December 23, symbolic of a recent thaw in ties between the two sides, an official said." REUTERS

Source: http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/China Thursday Dec 18, 2008 —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kaebora (talk • contribs) 17:46, 18 December 2008 (UTC)

Size of newborn cub

I have added a different description/ref for the size of the newborn cub. The comparison to a "stick of butter" may not be obvious to everyone. In the UK, for example, butter generally comes in 250g (8oz) blocks rather than 4oz sticks. TheSmuel (talk) 23:05, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Panda habitat: conservation

I think they need to talk more about the problems with panda conservation:

Problems include fragmentation of the pandas’ habitat, habitat destruction, and poaching. China has set laws to protect these places but they are still being logged and destroyed. Minshan Mountains, for example, has about ½ the remaining of the panda population within its forests, but also has 180,000 people (Kramer).

Kramer, James. "Pandas and Habitat Destruction ." WWF :World Wildlife Fund. 7 Mar. 2009 . 11 Mar.

2009 <http://www.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/endangered_species_list/giant_panda/

where_panda_lives_habitat/#Where>.

15:22, 13 May 2009 (UTC)

—Preceding unsigned comment added by Ajmaster77 (talk • contribs)

Liquid hydrogen?

Really, liquid hydrogen? Liquid nitrogen is much more common for cryopreservation, cheaper, not such an explosion risk - did they really use liquid hydrogen? Aaadddaaammm (talk) 08:24, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

1 ref says H2 the other says N2 so I'm changing it to N2 coz I believe H2 is an error. Aaadddaaammm (talk) 08:28, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

Annoying other pandas?

Seems like the phrase 'fucking other pandas' in the behaviour section is out of place for an encyclopedia. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.235.208.197 (talk • contribs)

Yes, it was anonymous vandalism, I've just reverted it. Thanks.--Microcell2009 (talk) 08:35, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Citations

Many of the citations within this article, although the information appears correct, are not valid enough to be used. More journal articles and less random websites should be used to ensure accuracy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 143.215.101.74 (talk) 23:31, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

I think its necessary to include the aposing argument to Chris Packams to make it fair-

"However, Dr Mark Wright, a conservation science adviser for WWF described Mr Packham’s comments as “daft” and “irresponsible”.

He said: “Pandas have adapted to where they live. They live in the mountains where there is plenty of the bamboo they want to eat.

“It’s like saying the blue whale is in an evolutional cul-de-sac because it lives in the ocean.”

Dr Wright added that pandas face extinction due to poaching and humans moving into their habitat, and that if left alone they would not be under threat." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.6.11.105 (talk) 22:40, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

Singapore

Can someone please add the report about two pandas for Singapore soon. A Google search will bring up a lot of articles. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.69.60.232 (talk) 02:05, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

It would be more appropriate to cover it when the giant pandas have actually arrived Singapore. Otherwise such information looks too trivial IMO. -- Sameboat - 同舟 (talk) 02:13, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

I strongly disagree. The pandas for Australia have not arrived but they are on the article. The Singapore pandas are very significant in the scope of pandas at foreign zoos. 76.69.60.232 (talk) 02:19, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Politically speaking, you may include it in Panda diplomacy. I think the coverage of proposed panda loans should be hidden temporarily. -- Sameboat - 同舟 (talk) 02:41, 23 November 2009 (UTC)

Well pandas are just wonderful cute animals that People that love.............I guess. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Magician26 (talk • contribs) 23:25, 9 February 2010 (UTC) The Giant Panda is not a cranavor it is a omnivor. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.67.77.108 (talk) 21:50, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Camel Case?

Why is "Panda" capitalized in this article title? ⇔ ChristTrekker 19:04, 30 August 2010 (UTC)

Pop culture

I realize it's just my opinion, but I think that arbitrarily omitting a section (or subsection) on pandas in popular culture is a mistake. They clearly have been featured broadly in the media.

When I noticed that this section was missing, I assumed that it was an oversight. I added a section (actually a subsection of the Media section), including a mention of Kung Fu Panda. It was quickly reverted, but as I said, I think this is a poor choice. For comparison, there's a mention of Finding Nemo in the clownfish article. EJSawyer (talk) 01:13, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

Pop culture is trivia, and not, generally, of interest on a biology page. The appropriate edit would be to put the info on movie's article, linking to this one. There's nothing about that fact that is about the animal - it's about the character and the movie. The section on clownfish should be removed, too. It's just not on my regular patrol. thanks for pointing it out, I'll go remove it now. - UtherSRG (talk) 01:16, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

While I could see a section of the use of pandas as a symbol - for example, but the WWF. While the portrayal of pandas in movies (in general) might be worth mentioning, if references to an appropriate secondary source, the portrayal of pandas in any one film is trivia, and isn't appropriate for the article. Guettarda (talk) 01:41, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

Food for thought: what about splitting the difference, and creating a second page about Pandas in Popular Culture? This page could link to it (in either "Pandas in Media" or "See also"), which would keep it pure, yet also allow the cross-reference info to be available. I haven't checked, but I'm pretty sure there's precedent. EJSawyer (talk) 15:37, 3 May 2010 (UTC)

Killer Whales in popular culture and Giant squid in popular culture are examples of precedent. I would expect that comparable levels of content could be gathered for pandas. EJSawyer (talk) 16:25, 3 May 2010 (UTC)

Yup, splitting the article along those lines is a good thing. Gorillas in popular culture, too. - UtherSRG (talk) 19:57, 3 May 2010 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Giant Panda/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Ucucha 18:31, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

The article has some good information, but there are numerous problems, some minor and some major, a sample of which I have listed below.

• Substantial overlinking: "China" is linked twice in the lead, and arguably doesn't need to be linked at all; what is the point of linking "mountain", "silver", "gold", or "farming"?
• Some points under "Appearance" are not part of appearance at all; the section may be better called "Description".
• "Though generally alone, each adult has a defined territory"—why the "though"?
• "After mating, the male leaves the female alone to raise the cub."—please cite.
• "Only a few bamboo species are widespread at the high altitudes pandas now inhabit. Bamboo leaves contain the highest protein levels; stems have less."—please cite.
• "The Giant Panda's closest ursine relative is the Spectacled Bear of South America."—this is uncited, and quite possibly false; for example, doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2009.10.033 and doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2007.10.019 find that the giant panda is sister to all other bears. The latter paper says that some studies have also found a relationship between the panda and the spectacled bear, but this doesn't seem to be the current consensus.
• The article is missing any information on the fossil antecedents of this species, including the fossil subspecies listed in the article Ailuropoda.
• "Kermit and Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., became the first foreigners to shoot a panda"—the source actually says they were the first Westerners.
• Please be consistent in using "Panda Diplomacy" or "Panda diplomacy".
• "conventional methods to estimate the size of the wild panda population"—what are those conventional methods? Counting?
• "it is difficult for the mother to protect it because of the baby's size"—that raises more questions than it answers. Why would a smaller young be more difficult to protect? (I would expect the opposite.) What does she protect it against, anyway?
• Nothing in the "In popular culture" section seems to have much to do with popular culture.
• What makes GiantPandaZoo.com a reliable source?

Ucucha 18:31, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

Thankyou for the comments -

• I addressed the citations for females raising the cubs and for the protein levels for the leaves. I did not cite the part about the bamboo species in the high altitude, but I will search some more.
• I removed some of the links from the lead and some farther in the article.
• Your raised a good point about the Spectacled Bear and I'll look into it.
• I believe what was meant by the difficultly to raise a small cub was that it's defenseless when the mothers leaves for a short time. It could be reworded.

wiooiw (talk) 22:43, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

I found a source that states the giant pandas nearest relative "genetically speaking" is the spectacled bear. wiooiw (talk) 00:20, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

I see your point about the website being a questionable source, so I will try to replace it. wiooiw (talk) 04:00, 11 August 2010 (UTC)

I struck a few issues above. However, what makes you think that the source you cited trumps the ones I cited that favor a different pattern of relationships among the bears? To clarify, the article implies the relationships are as follows:

	Giant Panda Spectacled Bear Other bears

but it appears that current genetic evidence favors:

	Giant Panda Spectacled Bear Other bears

In addition to those above, there are some other, broader issues I didn't mention yet:

• The structure of the article is... idiosyncratic. It jumps around from biology to issues of human interaction, and back again. Why do the two sentences of "Genomics" merit their own section? Is a list of zoos that hold giant pandas really relevant to this article?
• It's not exactly a GA criterion, but the sources are very inconsistently formatted and often lack essential information (sometimes even the publisher, often retrieval dates). There may be more unreliable sources, and many seem at best of questionable reliability—I would prefer for a biological article to be sourced to peer-reviewed literature, not newspapers and websites.

Ucucha 20:33, 12 August 2010 (UTC)

• The second link you provided shows the relationship as follows

	Ailuropoda melanoleuca Tremarctos ornatus Helarctos malayanus Melursus ursinus Other bears

It also says somewhere in it the hypothesis that "these two bears may be a sister group" received moderate support in a mitochondrial DNA analyses, but I could be reading it wrong. This is not my area of expertize but whatever relationship that this article does show is probably more reliable than the book that I used. wiooiw (talk) 05:03, 13 August 2010 (UTC)

Since it's been a week and not all issues have been addressed yet, I'm failing this nomination now. I hope the above provides some good guidance on how to continue improving the article. Ucucha 15:46, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

Thank you for putting in the time to review. After reading some paper, I should be able to edit this some more :) wiooiw (talk) 17:33, 24 August 2010 (UTC)

The concern about the relation of Pandas to bears is dubious in the initial review. Based on a detailed analysis involving a large number of anatomical characters, Genetic studies showed that the giant panda is a bear and suggested that convergent selection pressures must have been responsible for the seeming similarities between the giant and lesser pandas. As to its relation with spectacled bears, the fossil record shows that fossil bears fall into two groups, one giving rise to the large bears and the other branch giving rise to a number of genera and species that have since become extinct, leaving the giant panda as the last survivor. Though this point seems to have been raised in the discussion, I guess the citations are a bit weak and this link is a much better one.59.99.219.68 (talk) 14:30, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

pandas eat bamboo ....................

The panda bear is a popular item at the stuffed animal franchise called build a bear. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 138.87.214.46 (talk) 02:32, 14 September 2010 (UTC)

Requested move

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: moved per consensus. — kwami (talk) 07:13, 14 October 2010 (UTC) ~~~~

---

Giant Panda → Giant panda — Incorrect capitalization. ⇔ ChristTrekker 14:51, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

• Support this is very similar to when Killer Whale was moved to Killer whale. That move was strongly supported and I don't see any reason this should be any different.--174.90.78.3 (talk) 17:44, 7 October 2010 (UTC)
• Support Though the title should actually be Giant panda. OhNoitsJamie ^Talk 18:04, 7 October 2010 (UTC)
• Support. Giant panda is not a proper noun, and thus should not be capitalized. [|Retro00064|☎talk|✍contribs|] 21:23, 7 October 2010 (UTC)
• Support -- wiooiw (talk) 02:46, 8 October 2010 (UTC)
• Support: per above. Rehman⁽⁺⁾ 08:03, 8 Octhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Giant_Panda&action=edit&section=15ober 2010 (UTC)
• Support: no big difference Hongdx (talk) 21:37, 11 October 2010 (UTC)
• Support moving common names of species to lowercase. — Gavia immer (talk) 01:56, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

Discussion

Wouldn't this move means logically that Red Panda, Grizzly Bear, and many other pages should also be moved? Has anyone from WikiProject:Mammals weighed in on this? --Tesscass (talk) 22:46, 11 October 2010 (UTC)

There's sort of a consensus for this at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Animals, though I'd note there is nothing incorrect about either usage. —innotata 01:10, 12 October 2010 (UTC)

The term "giant panda" is not referring to a single animal, but rather a kind of animal, so I do not think it is a proper noun, and thus should not be capitalized as such. If it is not following English conventions, then it is not very professional looking either. [|Retro00064|☎talk|✍contribs|] 23:41, 12 October 2010 (UTC)

Common names of species should generally be lower case, with an allowable exception for common names that contain some proper name as an element (e.g. Thomson's gazelle should be titled as I render it here). — Gavia immer (talk) 01:56, 14 October 2010 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

WTF... Bananas!??!?!?!?!

I don't believe that fucking pandas eat fucking bananas in the wild... that's bullshit

hi weve adjusted the page to be more accurate. Aisha9152 (talk) 03:42, 8 November 2010 (UTC)

Preventing extinction

This month, there has been a significant amount of media coverage of the suggestion that it is a waste of time, money and effort to prevent them becoming extinct, which is what would happen if not for human intervention. What are the arguments for keeping them in captivity and encouraging them to breed? Do zoos that have Pandas gain far more visitors as a result? Can valuable products be made from Pandas? Is there a productive reason for going to great efforts to increase their numbers (which is a slow and difficult process), or is it all just because many people think they look cute? Wiki editor 6 (talk) 18:59, 24 September 2009 (UTC)

With the best will in the world, pandas are going extinct in the wild, and nothing will prevent that. Nobody with any kind of training in ecology imagines otherwise, though for fundraising reasons the WWF won't say as much publicly. I've added some text about this, quoting Chris Packham (a noted conservationist as well as photographer) and David Bellamy (an ecologist and TV presenter). Why do people want to save them? Yes, largely because they're cute. It's easy to sell tickets to zoos with panda bears, and zoos with breeding programmes can sniff about for research funds and grants. Charities want them because they're prettier than newts or liverworts, and politicians like them for the same reason they like babies and war heroes: they make good television. But can pandas actually be saved in the wild? Almost certainly not. There's not enough land and the wild population is so small the chances of successful breeding is virtually nil. There will doubtless be many who'll argue I'm being unduly negative here, or hard on the people doing the fundraising and captive breeding: but how many of those people are biologists or ecologists? Cheers, Neale Neale Monks (talk) 15:19, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Maybe cute is enough. "Cuteness" is a marketable product in and of itself. "It's easy to sell tickets to zoos with panda bears", right? So the pandas help keep the zoos open and profitable. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.138.178.119 (talk) 21:34, 3 January 2010 (UTC) wow dude calm down! Like no need to swear...i hold peace to the world. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rj doodles (talk • contribs) 22:25, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

Cat?

I noticed that the article says that the Panda "is a cat native to central-western and southwestern China.[2]" Should someone double check this? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jed.tsai (talk • contribs) 22:15, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

It doesn't say that anywhere in the article. I checked the entire article for every time the letters "cat" occur in that order and there's nothing about a panda being a cat. OlYeller^Talktome 03:26, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

I believe someone corrected it.... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.26.235.103 (talk) 19:09, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Yes the correction was made by me because i know for a fact that a panda is not what so ever related to a cat. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rj doodles (talk • contribs) 22:30, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

Edinburgh Zoo's Negotiations

Is Edinburgh Zoo still planning to include Giant Pandas to its collection? I knew they were planning it a while back though I presumed because of the credit crunch they cancelled or delayed these plans. Rhodington (T C) ^Sign! 21:54, 18 November 2010 (UTC)

China gives Britain two pandas, but will they produce this country's first ever cub Mail Online--195.137.93.171 (talk) 02:30, 17 January 2011 (UTC)

Doing handstands to urinate higher up trees

BBC NEWS Science-Nature Panda handstand makes its mark would seem to be notable behaviour ? Sadly the video link is dead on the BBC site, but YouTube has it ... --195.137.93.171 (talk) 02:30, 17 January 2011 (UTC)

Issues: web refs and trivia

Although I haven't had time to read the article the whole way through, there are 2 issues that I spotted right off the bat.

First, there are a number of web refs that are not archived, which leads to dead links in a relatively short period of time... especially since the links point to news articles and some not-so-reliable sources. Please follow WP:RS, find the best citations possible, and archive them somewhere (like WebCite). This will greatly reduce the need to constant repair broken links or delete content that can no longer be sourced.

Second, the "In zoos" section almost borders on being trivia. I know that giant pandas are rare in zoos and carefully controlled by China. However, if we want to list every giant panda in every zoo, we should create a formal list article (e.g. List of giant pandas in zoos or List of giant pandas in captivity) and refer readers there.

Other than that, it looks like a nice article on the surface, and I would love to see it reach GA or FA someday. – VisionHolder « talk » 19:35, 24 January 2011 (UTC)

"Returned" ???

In the "Notable North American–born pandas" section, a number of pandas are said to have been "returned to China." This may seem like the smallest of nits to pick, but they weren't really "returned," since they had never been in China before. I think "sent" or "moved" would be more accurate. Could someone with the required juice please make the edit? Thanks.Lafong (talk) 05:04, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

 Done. Good catch. You should be able to make these changes, though. Station1 (talk) 05:27, 28 January 2011 (UTC)

Tohui (Nahuatl word for kid) -Wrong-

Tohui is not from Nahuatl, is from Tarahumara, language from the north of Mexico (Chihuahua). The original name of Tohui was "Cancun" but it was change because Cancun means "nest of snakes" in Maya. Is correct the meaning of Tohui (kid). — Preceding unsigned comment added by Magrart (talk • contribs) 10:24, 31 May 2011 (UTC)

Edit request from Xonus, 8 June 2011

why is the giant panda page protected? There is no reason given in the log. I was trying to correct the information on known panda life spans and was not able to

Xonus (talk) 00:00, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

This should help. --The Σ ^talk_contribs 00:04, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Not done: requests for changes to the page protection level should be made at Wikipedia:Requests for page protection. Logan _Talk ^{Contributions} 03:22, 9 June 2011 (UTC)

Good point...I was thinking the same thing! The section on the name is written very badly but I cannot edit, the Red panda was known first...it's not lesser well known at all!! In fact it's name is given to this larger but now better known other "panda". But hey guess what, the the Wikipede "own brigade" have stopped any of that "the encyclopedia that anyone can edit" down. So the article stays piss poor but hey it keeps the IP riff-raff out! Wikipedia is the home of the self-appointed, self-aggrandising, and self-seeking nowadays. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.155.77.171 (talk) 17:20, 2 November 2011 (UTC)

This page (and the Red Panda page for a while) were subjected to a LOT of vandalism. In fact, the Red Panda page seems to be getting hit again (lots of reversion due to vandalism in the last week or so). If you change anything in these two articles, make sure that you source the change (unless you are correcting it to match an existing source, in which case you should say so in your edit comments). Editors that work on these two articles (myself included) are a bit twitchy because of previous vandalism, and have a tendency to revert without asking questions if you make a change to long-standing text without an explanation or a new reference. This has nothing to do with self-appointment, self-aggrandizement, or self-seeking. It's just a reaction to the fact that the vast majority of IP changes made to these articles have tended to be incorrect or non-encyclopedic.

Another misconception you have is that you can't edit the page because you are an IP. You cannot edit a protected page because the IP has not been editing for long enough and doesn't have enough edits (therea re other reasons such as edit wars for page protection, but for these pages it's been about vandalism). This is simply to avoid a lot of drive-by vandalism, which has included everything from people leaving their own name, to saying how cute pandas are, to cheering for their football team, to leaving obscenities. Even if you sign on, you have to wait for x days and y edits before you can edit a protected page. Don Lammers (talk) 22:29, 3 November 2011 (UTC)

Latest development on China News, 28 Dec 2011

There is a video and pictures cited by several Chinese news resources (e.g. sina.com, mingpao) that Sichuan researchers photo-shot a giant panda eating wildebeest corpse for the first time. Ediors / Administrators might consider to put them on this article.

• Video see here from mingpao

• Original news

--Zanhsieh (talk) 18:27, 28 December 2011 (UTC)

It's already in the article that they eat meat, so I don't see why this particular event is so important. Also the free images in the article are of higher quality than this non-free one. — Bility (talk) 17:08, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

News development

Is this link notable to be added? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16365392 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.19.205.144 (talk)

The BBC is reliable as a source, if that's what you mean. I don't see where in the article we'd put that link though. — Bility (talk) 17:08, 30 December 2011 (UTC)

Pandas in France zoo

Sources like abc7.com say that two pandas, one female, named Huan Huan and one male, named Yuan Zi were shipped to a zoo in France. Should this be put on? 68.165.52.59 (talk) 23:37, 15 January 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 16 January 2012

Giant Panda: Section: In zoos

On 15th Jan 2012 Huan Huan and Yuan Zi arrived at Zooparc de Beauval, Loir-et-Cher, France

188.223.10.1 (talk) 13:00, 16 January 2012 (UTC)

 Not done, needs a source--Jac16888 ^Talk 14:46, 21 January 2012 (UTC)`

Here is a source F.Y.I. <http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/2-pandas-munching-bamboo-amid-French-chateaux-2580237.php> 99.178.102.54 (talk) 05:15, 22 January 2012 (UTC)

 Done, thank you--Jac16888 ^Talk 14:43, 23 January 2012 (UTC)

MAP

The indian Boundaries are indicated wrongly. Sbadrinarayanan (talk) 19:52, 22 March 2012 (UTC)sbadrinarayanan

Do you have a source that indicates better Indian boundaries? - UtherSRG (talk) 15:02, 26 March 2012 (UTC)

Move to Panda?

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: Not moved Mike Cline (talk) 13:41, 27 March 2012 (UTC)

---

Giant panda → panda – The common name of this animal in English is panda. There are other pandas, but this name is so entrenched that "panda" redirects here immediately, instead of acting as a disambiguation page.

Is there a local mammal naming policy to keep it here? or shouldn't we move this to panda and note the alternate (more specific) name in the first line?

If folks need a link, the general policy I'm thinking about here is WP:FNAME. — LlywelynII 15:06, 19 March 2012 (UTC)

• Oppose; the full term is common enough that it won't be confusing to most readers, and it helps knowledgeable readers with immediate clarification regarding which panda the article is discussing. I think this is a strong candidate for WP:IAR on the grounds of improving the encyclopedia. Powers ^T 17:24, 19 March 2012 (UTC)
  • Except there's nothing being improved by ignoring that rule. At least in English, "panda" tout suite only means this panda, so there is no clarity being gained, only longer link names. — LlywelynII 09:47, 20 March 2012 (UTC)
    • I disagree (and oppose the move as well). In English there are two types of pandas, the red panda (the only meaning of the word until the giant panda was "discovered") and giant panda (which is actually a bear and not related to the original panda). The current setup acknowledges that the more common use of "panda" by itself is for giant panda, but steers readers to the correct usage. Don Lammers (talk) 12:02, 20 March 2012 (UTC)
      • I know it doesn't score any points to be overly argumentative, but you are being hypercorrective. "Panda" means this panda and (even when both are listed) is the common English name. The movie wasn't Kung Fu Giant Panda and not a single English viewer thought the title was about Shifu; similarly, British 'panda cars' aren't red-and-white. — LlywelynII 23:07, 20 March 2012 (UTC)
        • I stated my opinion, and that's all I'm going to do here. Whoever closes this discussion will undoubtedly take all the arguments into consideration, and the article will be moved (or not) accordingly. Don Lammers (talk) 00:00, 21 March 2012 (UTC)
          • Fair enough. Just providing support that despite "panda"'s etymological origin (& you're completely correct about that), the current usage is completely established and not less "correct" as you seemed to imply. Similarly, "corn" originally meant "wheat", but just does not have that meaning in modern American English. "Panda"'s the same way across all dialects.
            
            Sorry not to convince you otherwise, but - eh - it's the internet. Sometimes I'm not sure anyone has changed their mind here since 1993. =) — LlywelynII 02:30, 21 March 2012 (UTC)
• Support. Most-used common name for this topic and greater than other uses. I'm just taking Google books as example; hits for "Panda" [8] vs "Giant panda"[9]. Substract the hits for "Panda" with the hits for "Red panda" [10] and "Giant panda", and "Panda" is significantly higher than "Giant panda". Ofcourse, taking in account that "Panda" also may or may not refer to the Red panda (neglecting other further uses, which are likely minor in comparison), one can glance over and count the search results until we reach a point where the term "Panda" (without the "Red" in front of it) refers to that specific species and not the Giant panda; the use of "Panda" for the Giant panda outweighs. There will not be reasonably much confusion about what the topic covers if this article gets moved, as the use of "Panda" is more common for Giant panda than for Red panda; "Giant panda" and "Ailuropoda melanoleuca" as name is also in the lead. --Cold Season (talk) 01:34, 21 March 2012 (UTC)
• Support. Panda is already a redirect to this article, and no one seems to be challenging the fact that this topic is primary. The black-and-white panda is a normal size as bears go, so I think the word "giant" adds an element of confusion. I graphed panda vs. giant panda here. Kauffner (talk) 01:41, 21 March 2012 (UTC)
  • I freely concede that Panda is the common name for the Giant Panda, and that the Giant Panda is the primary topic for the word "panda". But I still oppose the move on the grounds that it improves clarity, precision, and usability. Powers ^T 02:49, 21 March 2012 (UTC)
    • Not confusing at all. Giant does not refer to its size relative to bears (otherwise it would be giant mottled bear or something). Giant refers to its size relative to its namesake the panda, with which it was thought to be a close relative at the time. Don Lammers (talk) 09:52, 21 March 2012 (UTC)
• Oppose - Sometimes, you need to ignore the rules to do the right thing. Nothing is gained by moving this article, and some clarity is lost. - UtherSRG (talk) 04:27, 21 March 2012 (UTC)
  • The clarity lost of moving is insignificantly small, little to none will search "Panda" and expect not to land at the current Giant panda article instead of another topic (So clear, that it even redirects here for about 5 years instead of to a disambig page). However, "Panda" as the most-used common name for this topic stands in contrast. --Cold Season (talk) 00:02, 22 March 2012 (UTC)
• Oppose (1) I agree with the comments of UtherSRG and Powers. (2) There is no confusion. Informing readers that what they thought of as the end-all-be-all of pandadom was just part of the whole is part of the nature of an encyclopedia. --Bejnar (talk) 09:23, 21 March 2012 (UTC)
• Oppose. I feel that even though this species is commonly informally referred as simply "panda", "giant panda" is more precise and unambiguous. It is probably more in line with the usage in the actual books and articles on the biology and ecology of this species. -- Vmenkov (talk) 02:07, 22 March 2012 (UTC)
• Oppose, per WP:FAUNA: don't use common names when it isn't clear what the name refers to. Also, WP:FAUNA is a subset of WP:COMMONNAME, and the naming standard is thus that which is most often used in reliable sources, within the WP:FAUNA specification of common (non-scientific) names. Note also from WP:FAUNA: when what is the most common name in English, or the veracity of that most common name, is so disputed in reliable sources that it cannot be neutrally ascertained, prefer the common name most used (orthography aside) by international zoological nomenclature authorities over regional ones. While the issue of regional authorities may not come into play here, clearly the implication is a deference to zoological nomenclature, which would be giant panda. ENeville (talk) 18:16, 25 March 2012 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

superscript nonsense

"A giant panda cub is also extremely small[quantify]" O wait, you already did, two paragraphs previously! Read the bloody article before you start accusing people of writing it badly! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 88.202.212.253 (talk) 22:00, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

Closest relative

In the classification section it is stated that the Panda's closest relative is the Spectacled Bear. Unfortunately I don't have direct access to the paper on molecular phylogeny of the bears. However, what I've been able to find online suggests Pandas are sister to the rest of the bear clade, with Spectacled Bears being the next split on the tree (i.e. [Panda[Spectacled Bear[All other bears]]]). This looks like a multi-gene phylogeny of the group with all of them saying the same thing: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2148/7/198/figure/F1?highres=y If true then the Panda is no closer to the Spectacled Bear than any other bear. Can anyone confirm the actual relationship? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mantisia (talk • contribs) 06:05, 27 April 2012 (UTC)

Thumbs

If the giant panda and the red panda are in completely different families, and they both have pseudo-thumbs, can the pseudo-thumb accurately be called unique? I know it's a nit, but it bugged me when i read it. --ubiquity (talk) 12:20, 6 May 2012 (UTC)

Un-named new cub..

Born a few days ago at the San Diego zoo, Bai Yun has just had another cub. I don't think the cub has been named yet, but it should be added to the list of cubs born in North America. From their facebook page: "Bai Yun gave birth to her 6th cub at 2:10pm! This makes us the most successful panda breeding facility outside of China, and it makes our mama bear one of the oldest pandas to give birth. Congrats to our world-class team and thanks to all of you for your support!" — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.199.46.135 (talk) 21:09, 1 August 2012 (UTC)

Edit request on 8 January 2013

98.189.28.82 (talk) 02:00, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Please add the two new cubs born in the USA.

Po at the Atlanta Zoo and Xiao Liwu at the San Diego Zoo. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bai_Yun

Thank you!

Done I was able to reuse sources already on the article. —KuyaBriBri^Talk 16:12, 8 January 2013 (UTC)

Edit request on 6 March 2013

Add this text to the External Links list:

• View the panda genome on Ensembl.

Ensembl is a genome browser that provides full genome sequence and annotation for a number of species, including Panda. 193.62.194.252 (talk) 11:48, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

Normally I am very hesitant to add new external links to an article but I think this is better than some of the ELs already on the article. If no one objects within 24 hours of your request I will go ahead and add it. —KuyaBriBri^Talk 14:58, 6 March 2013 (UTC)

Done. Appears non-controversial, added.  — daranz [ t ] 22:21, 8 March 2013 (UTC)

Cubs and Bamboo Diet

Giant Pandas do live on a diet consisting of 99% bamboo.Pandas spend most of there day not moving only if it is necessary. They have a very short mating span so that is why experts are having difficulty getting these big guys off the endanger species list Regarding comments below this is because they are filling an ecological niche and though they are in the Order Carnivora they are a rare exception that do not eat meat aside from occasional insects, eggs, or fish presented to them. Much of the information regarding these questions can be learned off of wikipedia on other pages on the carnivores and bears (which are well cited.) As to the cubs they generally give birth to one cub and on the rare occasion they give birth to. The remark "how can they decide which is stronger" as stated on this page is obviously nonsense. A reader or editor not knowing)

Additionally I do believe it should be flagged as citation needed and the mountain episode of planet earth is where it can be found. 96.255.135.55 (talk) 13:49, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

On second thought, this page is protected so I suppose I will need to come up with a new id and wait until I have the credibility needed to edit semi-protected pages or one of you lovely editors can do it. Cheers 96.255.135.55 (talk) 13:51, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

the giant panda

well the giant panda is an endangerd animal and i think we all snould keep them safe and the panda is the greatist animal in the world So protect the Giant Panda! Go Pandas!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.18.12.114 (talk) 01:24, 17 March 2013 (UTC)

Edit Request - UPDATE

In the section under "North Amerca" it mentions two pandas that are coming to Canada, first to Toronto then Calgary. This needs to be updated. The Female panda that is coming is Dai Mao, not JI JI, and the final date of arrival has been set for March 25th, 2013 via FedEx Express. Please check the www.torontozoo.com website to verify my info.

Can someone PLEASE update this for me??

Thanks! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ashergreen (talk • contribs) 13:50, 20 March 2013 (UTC)

Further research to correct obvious mistake.

Under IN ZOOS > NORTH AMERICA > THE TORONTO ZOO there is this line "For Toronto this will be the second set of pandas, in 1985 Quan Quan (Female, died 2010 at Jinan Zoo at age 21)..."

If Quan Quan died in 2010 at age 21 then she was born in about 1989, 4 years AFTER she visited the Toronto Zoo. Perhaps someone out there knows the correct information. There were people commenting on the CBC news website, wondering if this bear (and the other one) are currently still alive. The two bears have been mentioned in the Canadian news quite a bit lately (March 2013) as background for the arrival of the Toronto Zoo's latest pandas but no mention of their status has been made. The status and details of Quan Quan (and perhaps the info for Qing Qing is also incorrect) doesn't seem to be widely known; maybe someone has the answers. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.108.77.249 (talk) 06:03, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

Edit request of 21/4/2013 - http://www.giantpandaonline.org/

The link "http://www.giantpandaonline.org/" is a page for sale. It is no longer to do with the giant panda; please remove it. Cyborg4 :) (talk) 09:51, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

 Done Pol430 talk to me 14:27, 21 April 2013 (UTC)

Edit request on 11 June 2013

At the Toronto Zoo, Er Shun is the female and Da Mao is the male, contrary to what is on this page. I have photo proof of the poster boards at the zoo and information from the zoo staff. Please change "Er Shun (M) and Da Mao (F) to Er Shun (F) and Da Mao (M)" 174.0.202.171 (talk) 02:27, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Done - The existing sources in the article confirm it without needing your photos. Thanks though! --ElHef (Meep?) 15:45, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Edit request on 22 July 2013

In the infobox I see corrupted text like this:

Size: 5 feet long

Area: China  

Habitat: Forests

Food: 

Bamboo, grasses, bulbs, some insects and fruit: || [[ Size: 5 feet long

Area: China  

Habitat: Forests

Food: 

Bamboo, grasses, bulbs, some insects and fruit]]

I don't even see where this text is coming from, even less how to fix it, even if I could edit the article. However, someone ought to look at it.

86.160.214.119 (talk) 22:55, 22 July 2013 (UTC)

I don't see anything like that, so I assume it's been fixed. RudolfRed (talk) 02:45, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

Yes, it's fixed now thanks, even though no edit appears to have actually been made. Weird. 86.128.0.199 (talk) 11:38, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

Habitat

This article, citing a dead link as a source, indicates that the panda's historical habitat was western and southwestern China. According to the World Wildlife Fund, it's central and southeastern China. I'm inclined to believe the latter. Krychek (talk) 18:49, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

I've updated the description of its present range (in the lead) and added info on its historical range (in the Conservation section). - UtherSRG (talk) 20:11, 21 August 2013 (UTC)

panda cub born

http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/PandaUpdates/

On August 23rd, 2013, a panda cub was born at the Smithsonian Zoo in Washington DC to Mei Xiang. --24.52.172.41 (talk) 20:54, 11 September 2013 (UTC)

Edit request on 2 October 2013

Please change

Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta – home of Lun Lun (F), Yang Yang (M), Xi Lan (M), and Po (M), born 3 November 2010[122]

to

Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta – home of Lun Lun (F), Yang Yang (M), Xi Lan (M), Po (M - born 3 November 2010[122] and twin male cubs born 15 July 2013[130]

due to the birth of male cubs at the zoo earlier this year.

Add the following external link

130. http://www.zooatlanta.org/home/article_content/giant_panda_twins MjamesSJP (talk) 10:41, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

 Done. — Reatlas (talk) 11:04, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

Vienna Zoo - Tiergarten Schönbrunn

Giant Panda cub born One more (the third one) male panda cub, yet unnamed, was born nearly three years later on 14 August 2013 via natural mating.

Vienna Zoo Tiergarten Schoenbrunn - Giant Panda cub born — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.47.235.181 (talk) 19:37, 28 October 2013 (UTC)

Pandas born in USA

Hello there! I know for a fact that 2013 was a huge year for US-born pandas. For example, Bao Bao was just named (per 100 day tradition)! Bao Bao is the name of the Smithsonian's National Zoo giant panda cub. On July 15th, two pandas were born at Zoo Atlanta. I'm sorry I don't know how to edit this page, the lock and stuff is confusing. Anyone who gets it can check http://cir.ca/news/giant-panda-births-2013 and see how many pandas were born this year! 209.242.179.254 (talk) 19:47, 3 December 2013 (UTC)cody

Thanks for the link. The lock means the article is semi-protected. It's not clear from the logs exactly why the article is semi-protected, but you have three options. You can:

• make a request at WP:RPP that semi-protection be lifted or
• create an account, become autoconfirmed, and edit it yourself, or
• re-open this edit request and make a specific suggestion (i.e., change x to y) for improving the article. Rivertorch (talk) 19:26, 8 December 2013 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 18 December 2013

Please change the sex of Po, Mei Lun and Mei Huan (twin pandas born in 2013), the pandas at the Atlanta Zoo, to Female from Male. They were recently DNA tested and all three were found to be female. This was posted on the Zoo Atlanta website on 12/13/13 (http://www.zooatlanta.org/home/article_content/panda_update_females). Das2141 (talk) 21:11, 18 December 2013 (UTC)

Done. Rivertorch (talk) 08:13, 19 December 2013 (UTC)

"They seemed to lose their interest in mating once they were captured."

Has anyone ever figured out as to why they lose interest in mating while in captivity? --172.56.10.47 (talk) 03:21, 13 January 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 23 January 2014

• Macau Giant Panda Pavilion – home to Kai Kai (M) and Xin Xin (M) of Chengdu origin

Bachemj (talk) 17:51, 23 January 2014 (UTC)

Y Done -- Diannaa (talk) 20:42, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

"yolo"

I get the uncanny feeling the text "yolo" (a phrase I absolutely detest, by the way) is not supposed to appear in the panda's infobox. 71.97.60.210 (talk) 02:26, 28 February 2014 (UTC) (Deku-Scrub, not signed in at the moment.)

Vandalism reverted. ErikHaugen (talk | contribs) 19:28, 28 February 2014 (UTC)

This was the vandal edit, for the curious. ErikHaugen (talk | contribs) 19:59, 28 February 2014 (UTC)

Cat-like slit pupils

Rita Putatunda may have authored a Buzzle article making the claim that pandas possess vertical slits pupils, but the close-up photograph of the seven month old panda clearly shows a round pupil -- could we look for further information to substantiate her claim? DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 13:26, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

PS - I fear that most internet sources will be tainted with information gleaned from this article, and thus should be invalid sources of substantiation. DRosenbach ^{(Talk | Contribs)} 13:30, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Cats' pupils can also be round when fully dilated, so this claim about giant panda eyes are not necessarily false. its hard to tell with only a photograph. But yes, it would be better if a reliable source is found. --Tesscass (talk) 21:47, 18 September 2009 (UTC)

That claim is one that I would not have expected. However, there are several reliable sources that also make that claim. The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan for Bears makes that exact claim - that the giant panda possesses slit pupils. The reference is: Servheen, Christopher; Herrero, Stephen; and Peyton, Bernard. Bears: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. Gland, Scotland: International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); 1999. The two authors of the giant panda section of the IUCN report both appear to be qualified wildlife biologists with long, established careers - Donald G. Reid (here at http://programs.wcs.org/canadaarchive/AboutUs/OurStaff/DonaldReid.aspx) and Jien Gong (http://catttrax3.blogspot.com/2012/05/old-friends-gong-jien-wildlife.html). This source is written by experts in the field and is almost certainly not derived from Rita Putatunda's (or any other) webpage. This source is available online at: https://www.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/species/publications/species_actions_plans/ See page 242, which states: "The giant panda's pupils are vertical slits, as in cats, suggesting that the eye may be adapted for nocturnal vision."

There is also a published book (part of a multivolume set seen here at http://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Mammals-Marshall-Cavendish/dp/0761477195) that makes this same claim: Exploring Mammals, Volume 3. Tarrytown: Marshall Cavendish Corporation; 2007. See page 1012 here: http://books.google.com/books?id=j7ZsAxdLbaIC&pg=PA1012&lpg=PA1012&dq=giant+panda+pupil&source=bl&ots=_ph5xCjPlq&sig=hAlW24LIZbPmvoR1OV4fItZ8tJo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0Wo2U-qID5SssATrsYDQCg&ved=0CG8Q6AEwDQ#v=onepage&q=giant%20panda%20pupil&f=false. This source is written corporately (by a team of consultants and editors, rather than by authors listed on the cover) which I usually don't like. However, the 4 consultants (see page 1 at this link http://books.google.com/books?id=j7ZsAxdLbaIC&pg=PA1012&lpg=PA1012&dq=giant+panda+pupil&source=bl&ots=_ph5xCjPlq&sig=hAlW24LIZbPmvoR1OV4fItZ8tJo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=0Wo2U-qID5SssATrsYDQCg&ved=0CG8Q6AEwDQ#v=onepage&q=giant%20panda%20pupil&f=false) appear all to be qualified scientists as well.

The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums website page on the giant panda also makes the same claim, here at: http://www.waza.org/en/zoo/visit-the-zoo/bears-1254385523/ailuropoda-melanoleuca

The Toronto Zoo has a "Giant Panda Facts" infosheet at http://www.torontozoo.com/pandas/pdfs/FINAL%20Toronto%20Zoo%20Giant%20Panda%20Media%20Kit%20-%20Bios%20&%20Facts.pdf?b

These sources all appear to be reliable sources written by experts in the field. It would stretch credibility greatly to believe that they are all taken from Putatunda's (or another amateur's) webpage or other unreliable sources.

72.80.193.207 (talk) 07:11, 29 March 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 25 April 2014

Please make the following additions to the In Zoos section

North America

Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta – home of Lun Lun (F), Yang Yang (M), Xi Lan (M), and Po (F),[125] born 3 November 2010[126] and Mei Lun(F) and Mei Huan(F) born 15 July 2013[137]

North American-born pandas

Mei Lun and Mei Huan, born on 15 July 2013 at Zoo Atlanta. [137]

References

137. http://www.zooatlanta.org/home/animals/mammals/giant_panda/meet_the_pandas#ff_s=n574I MjamesSJP (talk) 09:39, 25 April 2014 (UTC)

Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. — {{U|Technical 13}} ^{(t • e • c)} 13:52, 27 April 2014 (UTC)

How is Atlanta Zoo's website not a reliable source for what Pandas are at the Atlanta Zoo? ErikHaugen (talk | contribs) 23:21, 29 April 2014 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 7 September 2014

Please change Ailuropoda melanoleuca melanoleuca and create a hyperlink that would lead to Ailuropoda. Mukthish (talk) 07:58, 7 September 2014 (UTC)

Partly done: I've removed the duplicate "melanoleuca" Ailuropoda is linked under Genus in the infobox - I have not linked it in the bodytext, as every use of "Ailuropoda" is in the term "Ailuropoda melanoleuca" and AFAIK we don't normally link half a species name. - Arjayay (talk) 17:06, 9 September 2014 (UTC)

Suggestions

In this article under Classification there could be more stated to why red pandas and giant pandas are not as related through an evolutionary stand point. Another thing the article could present is under Diet it can mention how 7 out of 13 taxonomic units are unique to pandas than to other mammals (Zhu). Under Subspecies it can be added that 0.3 million years ago a bottleneck occurred that caused the pygmy panda to be replaced by another subspecies - baconi panda that had a larger body mass (Chinese Scientists Discover Evidence of Giant Panda’s Population History and Local Adaptation by Whole Genome Resequencing). I would edit this article by adding "Although red pandas and giant pandas have the same "false thumb" they may of been evolved for different reasons; The red pandas was more than likely an adaptation to aid in locomotion, while the giant pandas may of been evolved for assisting in eating it's bamboo." under Classification where red pandas are mentioned. This will give a little bit more clarity to why they evolved the similar trait, but are only distantly related. Manuel J. Salesa. "Evidence of a false thumb in a fossil carnivore clarifies the evolution of pandas". http://www.pnas.org/content/103/2/379.full. Retrieved 30 September 2014. Walters.597 (talk) 16:41, 1 October 2014 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Walters.597 (talk • contribs) 19:56, 30 September 2014 (UTC)

Chinese characters

I do not mean to be dis-respectful, but is there a good reason for the Chinese characters in the leading sentences? I find these rather distracting and I suspect that to the vast majority of readers, they are meaningless. I suggest these are deleted.__DrChrissy (talk) 17:44, 4 January 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 4 February 2015

There have been several pandas born in Mexico not listed in the "North American-born pandas" section.

Ladeleonr (talk) 19:08, 4 February 2015 (UTC)

Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format. Anupmehra -Let's talk! 19:50, 4 February 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 20 February 2015

I can't find the ridiculous "love panda" vandalism in the source code, or I'd remove it myself. If anyone else wants to do this, that would be fancy.

edit: Nevermind- I found it. 2620:105:B000:D100:FD1B:92D2:AD30:78EB (talk) 00:26, 20 February 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 6 June 2015

Please update "mya" to "million years ago" for clarity. 94.15.211.19 (talk) 08:51, 6 June 2015 (UTC)

Done.DrChrissy ^(talk) 10:27, 6 June 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 22 May 2015

Please add a link to the Panda exhibition in Berlin under "External Links". The text is in English. Text and pictures are CC-BY-SA.

• Texts and pictures of the Panda exhibition at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin

Alvaro Ortiz Troncoso (talk) 10:58, 22 May 2015 (UTC)

Done (talk to) TheOtherGaelan('s contributions) 18:25, 13 June 2015 (UTC)

Tibet?

Do the pandas also live in Tibet? I remember this article used to say that. For some reason, it was removed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.4.251.152 (talk) 04:44, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

The IUCN Redlist states "The giant panda is confined to south-central China", and mentions specific mountain ranges. Confusion may be stemming from later in the range section where it says "By 1900, they occurred only in the Qinling Mountains and along the edge of the Tibetan Pplateau". "Tibetan Plateau" is not the same as "Tibet". Part of the Tibetan Plateau is in China, and "the edge of the Tibetan Plateau" would very likely be in China, not Tibet. Historic range is believed to go as far south as Myanmar and Viet Nam, Which would also likely miss Tibet. Tibet itself is not mentioned in the IUCN article at all.

The New World Encyclopedia, which is a copy of the Wikipedia article at a certain point in time and therefore not a valid citation for this article, still mentions Tibet. Don Lammers (talk) 13:07, 25 April 2012 (UTC)

This is Tibetan propaganda. It is effectively used on certain websites to fuel hatred against the Chinese, claiming that the Chinese did not only steal their land, but also steal their cute pandas, which China misuses as their national animals. --2.245.232.197 (talk) 09:28, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Gu-Gu Notorious

It's not a huge deal but I just think "notorious" is a bit of a strong word for Gu-Gu. Yes, he bit three people rather savagely, but all of them jumped in his pen. The word has such a negative connotation and I think most people would say Gu-Gu's behavior was acceptable. Maybe "well-known" or "famous"?Tomlib (talk) 18:03, 12 July 2015 (UTC)

New edit

The Giant Panda is an omnivore.--184.12.78.230 (talk) 18:31, 28 June 2011 (UTC)

A section says:-

The ROC government's official said, the import of pandas was under the terms of "species of traditional herbal medicine"

This statement is dubious. Is it saying that the ROC government is treating the pandas as traditional medicine and importing them under these terms? Or is it saying the government is just simply using similar importing terms as traditional medicine? If that's latter is the case, why is that? I removed this statement because more information needs to be given as it currently doesn't make sense. The reference in the footnote is broken so there is no way for me to verify it.--pyl (talk) 19:27, 24 January 2009 (UTC)

I deleted the sentence. I believe the editor who wrote it must have been trying to say something about how the Taiwan government was justifying the acceptance of the pandas when the previous administration had refused them as being illegal due to prohibitions against endangered species being given as international gifts.

I think it makes sense to clarify the circumstances. For example, why specifically Chen had objected, how the decision to accept was made by a newly elected administration, how that new administration justified the action, and how China viewed the transfer.

Specifically regarding Taiwan's justification, I found out something I hadn't known before: eTaiwannews.com had this to day on 2008-12-24 07:39 PM (it's cached in google right now, but who knows for how long)

Taiwan insists panda trip was not domestic affair for China

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The trip by two pandas to Taiwan was not the domestic transaction for China, the Mainland Affairs Council said Wednesday.

Earlier in the week, Tuesday’s delivery of the endangered animals from Chengdu in China to the Taipei Zoo was described as an example of internal or domestic trade by the secretariat of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, known as CITES. The organization said such a domestic transaction meant that the parties involved were not required to file a report.

However, MAC chairwoman Lai Shin-yuan said Wednesday the panda trip was obviously not domestic, since a customs declaration was filed, and the animals had to undergo a checkup before being taken off their flight at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.

The Taipei Times covered it but not as clearly: "PANDA DIPLOMACY: Use of ‘domestic’ by CITES secretariat was wrong: MAC". Readin (talk) 03:00, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

I am happy with your edit. I think you have clarified the situation quiet well.--pyl (talk) 04:28, 25 January 2009 (UTC)

Back to the original post in this section ("New edit"), the article describes the giant panda's behavior in terms equating to an omnivore but then asserts that the animal is a herbivore or a carnivore. Indeed the giant panda's normal diet is 99 percent bamboo, but, as the article says, the giant panda can and will eat meat. Ergo, this animal is an omnivore. The article should say so, categorically, and refrain from describing the behavior of an omnivore whilst obviating the term omnivore and classifying the animal as otherwise. Rammer (talk) 09:37, 21 July 2015 (UTC)

Diet

The article says:

the Giant Panda has a diet which is 99% bamboo

It's extremely unlikely to be exactly 99%.. anyone has more precise statistics? 93.33.245.35 (talk) 20:28, 27 June 2009 (UTC)

I can't imagine any number being accurate accross a large population. There's got to be a fair bit of variation. Perhaps in place of "99%" it would be appropriate to say, simply, "mostly."

the Giant Panda has a diet which is mostly bamboo

or

the Giant Panda has a diet which consists mostly of bamboo Bppubjr (talk) 18:09, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

The OP has a very valid point, however: To use e.g. "99 %" to imply "almost exclusively" is OK in speech, but should not be abused in an encyclopedia. Here numbers should have their literal meaning. 94.220.249.70 (talk) 08:22, 12 February 2010 (UTC)

"Almost exclusively" or "... a diet dominated by bamboo" is much better, both due to the considerations above, and because I've a hard time seeing the point in listing a number of other food-types if they only constitute a measly 1%. If no-one objects, I'll make the change. EthicsGradient (talk) 13:22, 29 March 2010 (UTC) Pandas eat beetles or small insects when not bamboo. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Rj doodles (talk • contribs) 22:37, 2 December 2010 (UTC)

Any concerns about the froggys supposed "violation" of natural bear behaviour because it is a herbivore are factually incorrect. Panda's aren't bears in the first place and obviously their diet cannot be compared with that of bears and no hypothesis of dietary preference can be made by comparing a Panda with a member of the Ursus Genus.59.99.219.68 (talk) 14:09, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

Ursidae is bear, giant panda is in Ursidae, it's a bear, not Ursus Editor abcdef (talk) 21:49, 10 March 2015 (UTC)

You would think that zoos could try feeding them more meat, instead of so much bamboo. They belong to the (mostly meat-eating) Carnivora order, so you would think it would be possible to convert them to eating more meat, over a few generations. They would probably have more success with breeding them, if they ate a diet of mostly meat.

See the discussion supra in the section "New edit" (about why the animal is an omnivore). That issue still needs to be addressed. Rammer (talk) 09:47, 21 July 2015 (UTC)

Oldest ever giant panda celebrates with bamboo, veggie cake

https://news.yahoo.com/oldest-ever-giant-panda-celebrates-bamboo-veggie-cake-102818356.html# The oldest giant panda ever in captivity tasted a vegetable ice cake and, of course, bamboo in celebration of her 37th birthday. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.107.138.27 (talk) 21:05, 29 July 2015 (UTC)

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pandas should not be in captivty

they are an endangered species — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.7.118.98 (talk) 00:53, 14 May 2013 (UTC)

and when (hopefully if) they become extirpated in the wild they can then be reintroduced without fear of extinction. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.49.6.225 (talk) 00:08, 13 September 2015 (UTC)

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Semi-protected edit request on 11 January 2016

<https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/national-zoos-giant-panda-cub-is-officially-named-bei-bei/2015/09/25/e187bc0a-6385-11e5-9757-e49273f05f65_story.html> "Panda in National Zoo in Washington DC is a male and is named Bai Bai. The footnotes says that the panda's gender was not yet know." </https> Gratefolks10162 (talk) 15:23, 11 January 2016 (UTC)

Done Stickee (talk) 01:53, 12 January 2016 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 26 January 2016

In section North American-born pandas the information is out of date.

Line: Unnamed twins, born 22 August 2015 to Mei Xiang at the National Zoo in Washington, DC.[88] The smaller of the two cubs died on 26 August 2015.[143]

should be

Bei Bei and an unnamed twin were born 22 August 2015 to Mei Xiang at the National Zoo in Washington, DC.[88] The smaller of the two cubs died on 26 August 2015.[143] Ncsny (talk) 02:53, 26 January 2016 (UTC)

Already done Went to do this but it looks like its already been taken care of. --allthefoxes ^(Talk) 04:21, 26 January 2016 (UTC)

No -- the change was done to the previous section "North America" paragraph on the "National Zoo".

Please look at the section AFTER "North America" titled "North American-born Pandas" -- second to last line. In this section it is still incorrect.

Done Sorry about the misunderstanding --allthefoxes ^(Talk) 19:47, 27 January 2016 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 1 February 2016

Pandas are increasing 103.247.48.73 (talk) 04:30, 1 February 2016 (UTC)

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• Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20061219071409/http://www.wwfchina.org:80/english/pandacentral/htm/wwf_at_work/panda_survey/q&a.htm to http://www.wwfchina.org/english/pandacentral/htm/wwf_at_work/panda_survey/q&a.htm

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Cheers.—^{cyberbot II}_{Talk to my owner:Online} 09:54, 27 February 2016 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 3 March 2016

please let me edit Drakon 17 (talk) 22:03, 3 March 2016 (UTC)

Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format. Datbubblegumdoe^{[talk – contribs]} 22:14, 3 March 2016 (UTC)

why do pandas eat bamboo?

Pandas eat bamboo because of the water and neutrance in the bamboo and the water. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.135.240.168 (talk) 16:36, 14 March 2016 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 10 March 2016

Under the "In Zoos" heading please change "...and US-born Mei Lan (F)" to "...Mei Lan (M)" because Mei Lan has been discovered to be male Under the "North American-born pandas" section, please include Zoo Atlanta's twin females, Mei Lun and Mei Huan; they were born on July 15, 2013. At the time of their birth, they were the first set of twin pandas to be born in the US since 1987 and the first set to survive.

119.237.36.12 (talk) 12:36, 10 March 2016 (UTC)

Done  ^B E _C K ^Y _S A ^{Y L} E _S  06:25, 15 March 2016 (UTC)

Pandas birth

It is very odd how it happens And adult panda will sit up as if in a chair,then she pushed and the baby panda comes out with a-lot of water just like when a human gives birth.

pandas eat bambo brov — Preceding unsigned comment added by 49.199.113.217 (talk) 09:16, 1 June 2016 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 16 June 2016 - Taxonomic classification

Please change
Scientific classification:
[Nothing]

to

Scientific classification:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ursidae
Genus: Ailuropoda

Please refer to the Catalogue of Life page, here: http://www.catalogueoflife.org/col/details/species/id/e2e3653c631047a2e41328c4dc46151e/common/7bab383f007770375d1541673bce306d

160.111.254.17 (talk) 20:54, 16 June 2016 (UTC)

Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format.  ^B E _C K ^Y _S A ^{Y L} E _S  08:29, 17 June 2016 (UTC)

Done  ^B E _C K ^Y _S A ^{Y L} E _S  07:50, 18 June 2016 (UTC)