1. Animal Ambassador Project: The Giant Panda SOCIAL JUSTICE + ENGLISH 12 UNIT 1.2 ACTIVITY 2 MONTANA KISH

2. WHO? There are only two different kinds of pandas. The Giant Panda is the species I have chosen to represent for the Animal Ambassador Project, because the Red Panda is not near extinction. Away we go! Here are some facts about Chinas unofficial mascot:  The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) uses the Giant Panda as their symbol  these animals can weigh as little as 200 pounds and up to 250 pounds, with the males usually being at the higher end of the scale  The diet of a Giant Panda consists mainly of bamboo, although they will periodically eat other things such as eggs, fish and small rodents  Pandas have been on Earth for an estimated 2-3 million years  A Giant Panda will stand about 3 feet tall and measures usually around 5 feet long  The word “panda” may have developed from the Nepalese word poonya, which means “bamboo-eating animal” or “plant-eating animal.” Why, The Giant Panda, of course!

3. WHAT? On the World Wildlife Fund website, it has a rating of “ENDANGERED” which means that they are facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. As the population in China increases, the land for The Giant Panda to live on decreases. Yes, that’s right, The Giant Panda is classified on IUCN’s red list as endangered 

4. WHERE? Fossil evidence suggests that the Pygmy Giant Panda (Ailuropoda microta) is the earliest known ancestor of the Giant Panda. It was smaller, measuring around 1m (3 ft.) in length, while the modern Giant Panda grows to around 1.5 m (5 ft.). The first discovered skull of the animal, in south China, is estimated to be 2 million years old. This research indicates that the giant panda has evolved for more than 3 million years as a completely separate lineage than that of other bears. The ancestors of the modern giant panda were widely distributed over much of eastern and southern China as far north as Beijing. They have also been found in northern Myanmar (Burma) and northern Vietnam. Part of these places, are still panda territory today. Giant pandas live in a few mountain ranges in central China, in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces. They once lived in lowland areas, but farming, forest clearing, and other development now restrict giant pandas to the mountains. …did they come from? Where are they now? Information taken directly from: http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/giant_panda/ panda/panda_evolutionary_history/ Information taken directly from: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/PandaF acts/

5. WHEN? The Giant Panda has been on the endangered species list since the 1980’s. I feel like in that time period there weren’t as many scientists and people involved with helping endangered animals and the number of pandas just kept getting lower and lower until it was truly recognized as a problem. These days, it is said that there are only 2000 pandas living in the wild, and that was the maximum educated guess. There are also around 200 pandas in captivity and breeding programs. …did all this bad stuff start happening to the pandas?

6. WHY? In the years before, poaching was a tremendous problem for these cute, fuzzy animals. The fur was worth quite a bit of money and would be traded and sold through the black market. These days, the Giant Pandas biggest predator would be humans, but not in the sense where we are literally hunting them. I’m talking about the construction of roads, houses, and railways. The creation of all these things means that the forest land where the pandas live is deteriorating. While I did say that the biggest problem for pandas is construction, the hunting problem is not obsolete. Often, hunters will be on the lookout for a different animal, when suddenly a panda will appear and they will “accidentally” kill them out of surprise or maybe even because they think it is their sought after animal. Either way, both of these problems have to end. What are the reasons behind The Giant Pandas near-extinction population?

7. WE NEED TO STICK UP FOR ANIMALS They are helpless in a world full of greedy humans. Chances are the particular animal is beneficial for its ecosystem, and without the one species, the rest could die off or overpopulate Everyone in the world needs to know that it is not okay to kill a living thing for the pure purpose of making money This planet could not function without them, and even if it could, I would not want to see what that looks like They do not have a voice, and cannot out rightly express when they are being treated unfairly Because…