Can pandas kung fu?
This summer you'll find a fighting panda in movie theaters near you.
But in real life, can they put up a fight?
Kung Fu Panda
The movie tells the story of Po, a panda who is an apprentice noodle-maker and kung fu fanatic. But he's also apparently the laziest animal in ancient China.
Are pandas lazy? Can we rely on them to be all action heroes?
All about the giant panda
Are pandas lazy like Po, the main character in Kung Fu Panda?
This is not true in reality.
Although we often see images of laid back pandas chewing on bamboo, they are pretty active animals overall.
A wild panda spends much of its day feeding and seeking food. A fairly easy task you may think? Not really. Not when you consider an adult panda needs to consume 12-38 kg of bamboo a day to just to meet its daily energy requirements. That's a full time job in itself.
Additionally panda cubs start to climb trees when they are only 6 months old, and as adults the pandas make excellent climbers. They can also swim and, unlike most other bears, do not sleep for months at time in hibernation.
Is the snow leopard a real enemy?
In this, fiction and real life agree.
Adult pandas have very few natural enemies, but snow leopards, such as Tai Lung, pose a definite threat to young pandas.
Can pandas protect themselves?
Although shy and peaceful by nature, pandas will attack if necessary, especially to protect their young.
You see pandas can grow to be 1.5m long from nose to rump, and weigh about 150kg - that's almost 2x heavier than most adult humans. They have large molar teeth and very strong jaw muscles (used mainly for crushing bamboo).
So, as cute as they may look, a giant panda can certainly protect itself as well as most other bears.
Can they do kung fu?
This is a tricky one.
Kung fu and giant pandas are a symbol of Chinese culture.
And many forms of martial art are inspired by animals and nature, such as the popular 5 forms of kung fu:
- Tiger,
- Crane,
- Leopard,
- Snake, and
- Dragon.
Although giant pandas usually avoid confrontation., they can display aggression by lowering their heads and staring directly at the opponent.
If escape is not possible, they will use their massive weight and strong jaws and claws to defend themselves.
Since avoiding combat and defending yourself are in line with general martial art philosophies, we could say that, in their own way, pandas do practice their own particular form of "kung fu".
Now for the big question: can we rely on them to be a super hero?
Actually. No. Because that is up to YOU!
The biggest threats to pandas are not in the wild, but through everyday human actions.
The reason why they are one of the most endangered species on our planet is because they are losing their habitat, poaching and the subsequent illegal trade in their pelts.
That's the bad news.
The good news is we can do something about it. We can be the heroes.
No matter where you live, if we all treat our planet better, we can guarantee a future for the giant pandas, fishes, forests and even ourselves.
Let's start now:
