Giant Panda’s Mother’s Day

2019-05-14

Mother, a great name for both animals and people, means giving us new life.

 

Mother's Day is a day to thank your mother. which originated from ancient Greece. However, the modern Mother’s Day came from United States. A bunch of carnations are usually presented to the mother to express the gratitude for her hard pregnancy on Mother's Day. Then, is there also a Mother’s Day for moms in panda world?

 

The panda has been living in a single parent family since childhood. March to May is the period when the panda freely falls in love. The father panda will leave the mother panda after enjoying a love with her, leaving her alone to face the pain of pregnancy and childbirth.

 


Giant pandas mating in the wild.

 

During pregnancy ranging from three to six months, the mother panda will find a nest for her babies in advance, often in a hidden place close to the water source.

 

The Giant panda has a 50 % chance of giving birth to twins, but she will choose the stronger one to raise in order to adapt to the law of nature's survival of the fittest and natural selection. Although it is unknown to us how the panda mother feels when she chooses, the efforts to keep her baby as much as possible still move us.

 

In captivity, the panda keeper helps the mother raise the two cubs together and keep them alive as much as possible. In order for twins to have access to breast milk, or to cope with the occasional lack of breast milk from the panda mothers, keepers usually change their offspring to ensure their healthy growth.

 


A Warm Moment for the Panda Mother and the Baby

 

The panda baby will follow her mother to live for about one and a half years, learning various skills for the future independent life.

 


A young giant panda cub is learning to climb trees in the wild.

 


The wild giant panda mother and her panda baby is walking together.

 

After one and a half years, the baby panda will leave her mother to live alone. In the wild, the panda baby will be expelled even if it re-enter their mother's territory. It is also a kind of love of the mother panda, who teaches their children to be independent and brave to survive in nature. Although the panda mother may never receive a Mother's Day gift, it is believed that the healthy growth of the baby panda is the best gift for her.