Today, the main habitat of giant pandas is Sichuan, which is well protected, but do you know? Long ago, giant pandas and snow leopards lived in peace for millions of years.
Snow leopards are as precious as giant pandas. Although they are not unique to China, China has the largest number of snow leopards, about 4,500, and most of their habitats are located in China.
The shape of snow leopard is also beautiful. According to different living areas, their hair colors are slightly different, ranging from white to grayish white. They are hairy, dense and soft, with rose-like stripes all over their bodies, and a long, thick tail is very conspicuous. Although the snow leopard belongs to the leopard, it can't roar like liger, nor can it make a sound like a cat? Gollum? Sound.
Schematic diagram of giant panda evolution
At present, the mainstream view is that giant pandas evolved from primitive pandas and began to appear about 8-9 million years ago, that is, in the late Miocene.
In the early Pleistocene (2.588 million BC-65438 BC+0.65438 BC +0.70 million BC), a few giant pandas appeared, and at this time, they have evolved to the point where bamboo is the staple food;
Papilio panda began to appear in the middle and late Pleistocene, and the panda family developed to its peak, widely distributed in southwest China, south China, north China, northwest China, central China, and even Myanmar and Vietnam.
In addition, it is worth mentioning that during the period from now 1 10,000 years-1 10,000 years ago, the wisdom of prehistoric humans was also highly developed. Judging from the panda specimens unearthed from many human sites, there are many bones? Cut? Therefore, archaeologists speculate that the butterfly panda at that time was probably the target of human hunting.
panda
At present, we all know that the main living areas of giant pandas are in various protected areas in Sichuan. Their habitats are banded, but not connected. They are divided into about 20 isolated populations, large and small. On the surface, the habitat of giant pandas is close to 30,000 square kilometers, but in fact, due to human factors such as mountains, rivers and roads, the actual living area of giant pandas only accounts for about 1/5 of the total area, which is about 6,000 square kilometers. Since 1950s, the habitat of giant pandas has been reduced by 80% due to deforestation and wasteland reclamation. Starting from 1974, the state conducts a national census every 10 year. The latest data, namely 20 1864, shows that the number of wild giant pandas is 1864, and the number of captive giant pandas in the world is.
Giant panda distribution map
Giant pandas were once widely distributed in the south of China, reaching Southeast Asia at the southernmost tip. So far, it is only distributed in Sichuan, Shaanxi and the western corner of Gansu, with highly dispersed habitats and no connection between populations. Inbreeding has become one of the biggest factors that affect and threaten pandas.
In addition, although China lost about 30% of its forests in the decades from 65438 to 0950-2004, it has shown an increasing trend in the past 20 years, that is, the forest coverage rate has increased, which indicates that the wild environment in China is developing in a better direction.
The historical distribution and survival status of snow leopards are native to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and belong to the plateau area. Because snow leopard has highly developed skills of regulating breathing and distributing blood, it is very sensitive to the change of oxygen compared with ordinary animals. Even if the oxygen on the plateau is thin, they can still move freely.
Snow leopards are only distributed in 12 countries in Central Asia, including China. Compared with the past, the number of snow leopards has been reduced to 80% 20 years ago. Due to global warming, habitat loss and other reasons, the overall distribution trend of snow leopards is to move towards higher altitudes.
Snow leopard distribution map
The habitats of snow leopards are also patchy, and there is no communication between the major habitats. The concentrated distribution points are centered on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and spread to the surrounding areas, with the northernmost part from the west of Lake Baikal to the south of Siberia, the southernmost part to Bhutan, the westernmost part to the southeast corner of Uzbekistan and the easternmost part to Chengdu.
In addition, it is said that there are traces of snow leopards in a small area in northern Myanmar, but so far, this statement has not been confirmed, but from the historical ecological environment, there are indeed many ecological corridors through which snow leopards pass.
snow leopard
In winter, the main habitat of snow leopards is between 1200-2000 meters above sea level, when they have entered the forest to live;
In summer, the main habitat of snow leopard moves to a higher direction, mainly concentrated in the range of 2700-6000m above sea level. At this time, the snow leopard crossed the forest line, walked out of the forest and came to the rock area. This is the favorite terrain of the snow leopard, because there are their favorite foods, such as rock sheep and argali.
Although the rocky landform is very difficult for us humans, it can be as flat as the ground for snow leopards.
Judging from the historical distribution areas of giant pandas and snow leopards, some places overlap, and this overlapping area is in Sichuan.
1869, the French biologist David first discovered the giant panda in Baoxing area (in Ya 'an, Sichuan) and told the world. More than 80 years later, people found the cubs of snow leopards in this area. Gradually, with the increasing attention to this animal, the distribution of snow leopard in Sichuan has gradually been revealed. Today, snow leopards are as precious as pandas.
The distribution area of snow leopard in Sichuan and its storage area with pandas.
Snow leopards are mainly distributed in various mountainous areas of Sichuan, extending from Gongga Mountain in southwest Sichuan to Xinlong in central Ganzi Prefecture, and then to Luo Xu in northwest Sichuan. In this ecological environment east of Dadu River and west of Minjiang River, snow leopard and giant panda have lived in peace for millions of years. In this area, there is a key area, Wolong Nature Reserve, which is one of the most important living areas for giant pandas and snow leopards, and is a plant resource.
Although snow leopard and giant panda live in the same area, it seems that we have never heard of the omen that snow leopard preys on giant panda or giant panda kills snow leopard. Apart from their different living habits, the most important thing is that they seldom meet each other.
Giant pandas don't like living at high altitude, and the lower altitude is 500 meters. Simply put, snow leopards live above the forest line and giant pandas live below it.
The difference between the habits of snow leopard and giant panda: Although giant pandas are carnivores in classification, the study of digestive system also proves that they retain the characteristics of carnivores, but their diet is mainly vegetarian, especially bamboo, which accounts for the vast majority, and there is no saying that they compete with other carnivores for resources;
Although the giant panda looks cute, it is a real bear. The average weight of mature individuals is 100- 1 15 kg. In the local ecological environment, there are almost no natural enemies except humans, so they don't have to be afraid of natural enemies like other herbivores, but their cubs are vulnerable to wild animals such as wild dogs and leopards.
Giant pandas who eat bamboo
Habit of snow leopard: Adult snow leopard weighs 22-55 kg, and some larger individuals can reach 75 kg. It is a typical carnivore. Unlike other opportunists, snow leopards usually take the initiative to prey. Because of its size, its prey is generally 36-76 kilograms of herbivores, and its favorite food is rock sheep and argali, but in some areas where wildlife resources are relatively scarce, snow leopard.
Carnivorous snow leopard
In fact, from the living space and habits of giant pandas and snow leopards, it is not difficult to see why they can live in peace. In layman's terms, is it? Bunk bed? Relationship, although the lower berth panda honestly does not compete, but the strength is strong and no one dares to provoke; Although the snow leopard in the upper berth is king in its own territory, it doesn't like sleeping in the lower berth, and it doesn't dare to provoke giant pandas easily.
The protection operation continues. The protection of giant pandas in China is all-round, from the protection of habitat environment to publicity and education, and even to the protection of individual giant pandas. In China, all the children who think of Lian Gang know that the giant panda is a national treasure, so the most worrying issues about pandas at present are the impact of global warming on pandas and inbreeding.
For the protection of snow leopard, although there are not as many measures as giant pandas, the protection intensity is not much weaker than that of giant pandas. At this point, China has become a model for protecting snow leopards in the world.
Snow leopard raised in captivity
In fact, whether it is aimed at giant pandas or snow leopards, the actions are similar, which are nothing more than protecting the environment and reducing man-made injuries. This aspect can be divided into specific policies and publicity and education. In the past, snow leopards were often killed protectively because they preyed on livestock. In recent 20 years, people have realized the importance and preciousness of snow leopard, and their impression of this species has been greatly improved. In addition, artificial breeding is also a very important means.
Giant pandas in captivity
Both the giant panda and the snow leopard are very fragile species, and they are very sensitive to environmental changes. The low birth rate is no small challenge, whether it is artificial breeding or survival in the wild, but thanks to people's unremitting efforts, many problems of artificial breeding have been overcome. There are 13 giant panda reserves and several breeding bases in China.
The difficulty of artificial breeding of snow leopard is that it is a plateau species, which is prone to tuberculosis, parasites and other problems. At present, 26 nature reserves have been established, covering more than 50% of the snow leopard habitat. Since 1983, Xining People's Park in Qinghai Province has solved the problem of artificial reproduction of snow leopards, large domestic zoos have also joined in one after another.