In China the government is fighting to save a national symbol – the giant panda. There are very few pandas today and they are running a big risk of extinction.
Pandas are vegetarians. They live in the mountains of central China, in forests of pine trees and bamboo. Pandas eat flowers, grass, and sometimes small animals and honey. But bamboo is their main food. Because their digestive tracts extract little nutritive value from the plant, they consume enormous amounts, spending 50 to 75 percent of the day eating. A giant panda needs 20 kilos of bamboo a day, and he eats for about 15 hours!
Scientists are making a special study of the panda, its way of life, home, and food. They are also trying to breed pandas in new zoos, and to grow different kinds of bamboo in special natural reserves for pandas. Man, the principal problem for animals, is starting to work with nature. But there isn’t much time. Are we doing enough to save wild animals?
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