Brown Giant Panda Cub Found in China Reserve

by Kristen Seymour (Subscribe to Kristen Seymour's posts): Nov 12th 2009 @ 1:30PM Filed Under: Exotic Pets

Caters News/ZUMA Press

Researchers in China recently made an exciting (and adorable) discovery when they found a brown giant-panda cub.

Giant pandas are found only in China and already among the most endangered species on the planet. But brown giant pandas, which have brown fur instead of the normal black, are far more rare. This is only the fifth brown giant panda ever recorded, reports PeoplePets.

The panda cub, which is just two months old and has yet to open its eyes or walk, was found in the Foping Giant Panda Reserve in Shaanxi Province, which, according to China Daily, is the same place the first giant brown panda was discovered back in 1985.

This new cub's mother is black and white, like most giant pandas. And the first giant brown panda, Dandan, gave birth to three black and white pandas (all of whom died at a young age, sadly). Experts still don't understand why some pandas are born with the more unusual brown markings. Maybe this fuzzy new addition will help shed more light on the subject!

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Tags: brown panda, BrownPanda, discovery, endangered, foping wild giant panda reserve, FopingWildGiantPandaReserve, giant brown panda, GiantBrownPanda, panda, panda cub, panda reserve, PandaCub, PandaReserve, rare panda, RarePanda

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

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#1 Mary 11-13-2009 @ 10:40AM

I have noticed that most animals whose fur appears to be black to the human eye, really are not black if you look at their individual hairs under strong sunlight. They are shades of brown mixed with shades of deep auburn going so dark that they look black to the human eye. Keeping that in mind, not all pandas and others creatures will always create perfectly black-looking progeny. Thus, you get lots of black dogs, cats, and even pandas producing brown offspring. Fur is an evolutionary survival covering. If a creature can produce progeny of varying shades, then at least one shade will make it easier for that species to survive. Black fur is uncomfortable for animals in warmer climates. If China is having warmer weather that could be triggering a genetic change in the pandas that live there.

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#2 cannotbelievethis 11-13-2009 @ 10:49AM

All animals have "color phases" black bears can appear "cinnamon" or even "blonde" - I think, due to the fact that pandas are already rare, the fact that this one appears "brown" may be due to the seeming rarity of pandas on the whole... he sure is a cutie!

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#3 egbaldinger 11-13-2009 @ 12:58PM

So very interesting

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#4 doctorunne7 11-13-2009 @ 3:40PM

Wow, I am surprised that someone actually posted an intelligent comment. Incidentally, many seemingly white-furred animals actually have clear fur which acts as millions of tiny greenhouses and warms the animal. Polar bears are the prime example of this. I don't know about pandas...was it a lot colder in China when they initially evolved? idk

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#5 Jan 11-13-2009 @ 10:48AM