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Giant panda
COMMON NAME: Giant Panda
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Ailuropoda melanoleuca
TYPE: Mammals
DIET: Omnivore
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN THE WILD: 20 years
SIZE: 4 to 5 feet
WEIGHT: 300 pounds
SIZE RELATIVE TO A 6-FT MAN:
Behavior and Habitat
Wild pandas live only in remote, mountainous regions in central China. These high bamboo forests are cool and wet—just as pandas like it. They may climb as high as 13,000 feet to feed on higher slopes in the summer season.
Pandas are often seen eating in a relaxed sitting posture, with their hind legs stretched out before them. They may appear sedentary, but they are skilled tree-climbers and efficient swimmers.
Breeding and Population
Giant pandas are solitary. They have a highly developed sense of smell that males use to avoid each other and to find females for mating in the spring. After a five-month pregnancy, females give birth to a cub or two, though they cannot care for both twins. The blind infants weigh only 5 ounces at birth and cannot crawl until they reach three months of age. They are born white, and develop their much loved coloring later.
Improved conservation efforts and better survey methods show an increase in the wild panda population. Hundreds more pandas live in breeding centers and zoos, where they are always among the most popular attractions. Much of what we know about pandas comes from studying these zoo animals, because their wild cousins are so rare and elusive.
Mallard Duck
COMMON NAME: Mallard Duck
SCIENTIFIC NAME: Anas platyrhynchos
TYPE: Birds
DIET: Omnivore
GROUP NAME: Sord (in flight)
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN THE WILD: 5 to 10 years
AVERAGE LIFE SPAN IN CAPTIVITY: Up to 10 years
SIZE: 20 to 26 inches
WEIGHT: 2 to 3 pounds
SIZE RELATIVE TO A 6-FT MAN:
The green head and yellow bill of the mallard duck is a familiar sight to many people living in the Northern hemisphere. In fact, the mallard is thought to be the most abundant and wide-ranging duck on Earth.
Habitat
Mallards prefer calm, shallow sanctuaries, but can be found in almost any body of freshwater across Asia, Europe, and North America. They’re also found in saltwater and brackish water and are commonly found in wetlands.
Male vs. Female
The male, or drake, is the more distinctively colored of the mallards. Its iconic green head sits atop a white neckband that sets off a chestnut-colored chest and gray body. Females are mottled drab brown in color, but sport iridescent purple-blue wing feathers that are visible as a patch on their sides. They grow to about 26 inches in length and can weigh up to 3 pounds.
Behavior and Reproduction
Mallard groups can often be seen head dipping or completely upending in the water. They rarely dive though, spending their time near the surface and dabbling for invertebrates, fish, amphibians, and a variety of plants. They also graze on land, feeding on grains and plants.
Mated pairs migrate to and breed in the northern parts of their range and build nests on the ground or in a protected cavity. They normally lay about a dozen eggs, and the incubation period lasts just under a month. Mallards are territorial during much of this period, but once incubation is well underway, males abandon the nest and join a flock of other males.
Most mallard species are common and not considered threatened. However one threat to their populations includes hybridization with other ducks.
Published: May 18, 2020
Latest Revision: May 18, 2020
Ourboox Unique Identifier: OB-833358
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