AnneCarlini.com Home
 
  Giveaways!
  Insider Gossip
  Monthly Hot Picks
  Book Reviews
  CD Reviews
  Concert Reviews
  DVD Reviews
  Game Reviews
  Movie Reviews
  Check Out The NEW Anne Carlini Productions!
  [NEW] Belouis Some (2024)
  [NEW] Jay Aston’s Gene Loves Jezebel (2024)
  [NEW] Mark Ruffalo (‘Poor Things’)
  [NEW] Paul Giamatti (‘The Holdovers’)
  [NEW] Crystal Gayle
  [NEW] Ellen Foley
  Gotham Knights [David Russo - Composer]
  The Home of WAXEN WARES Candles!
  Michigan Siding Company for ALL Your Outdoor Needs
  MTU Hypnosis for ALL your Day-To-Day Needs!
  COMMENTS FROM EXCLUSIVE MAGAZINE READERS!


©2024 annecarlini.com
6 Degrees Entertainment

'NATURE: Pandas - Born to Be Wild'
(DVD / G / 2021 / PBS)

Overview: The Giant Panda may be one of the most recognizable endangered species on our planet, but the daily lives of wild pandas remain a mystery, until now.

Filming over three years, two Chinese cinematographers trek through the steep forested trails of the Qinling Mountains to catch a glimpse of wild pandas.

With the help of scientists and rangers on this journey, they capture startling new wild panda behavior on screen.

Unlike the playful image of captive pandas, wild pandas are solitary and territorial. The film crew also follows the training of a young panda born in captivity learning to be a panda in the wild.

DVD Verdict: Taking it from the top, the panda, with its distinctive black and white coat, is adored by the world and considered a national treasure in China. Indeed, this bear also has a special significance for WWF because it has been our logo since our founding in 1961.

Pandas live mainly in temperate forests high in the mountains of southwest China, where they subsist almost entirely on bamboo. They must eat around 26 to 84 pounds of it every day, depending on what part of the bamboo they are eating. They use their enlarged wrist bones that function as opposable thumbs.

A newborn panda is about the size of a stick of butter — about 1/900th the size of its mother — but females can grow up to about 200 pounds, while males can grow up to about 300 pounds as adults. These bears are excellent tree climbers despite their bulk.

The Qinling panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis) is a subspecies of the giant panda, discovered in the 1960s, but not recognized as a subspecies until 2005. Disregarding the nominate subspecies, it is the first giant panda subspecies to be recognized.

It differs from the more familiar nominate subspecies by its smaller skull and dark brown and light brown (rather than black and white) fur, and its smaller overall size. Its eye spots are under the lower lid, instead of around the eyes.

This subspecies is restricted to the Qinling Mountains, at elevations of 1,300–3,000 metres (4,300–9,800 ft). Its coloration is possibly a consequence of inbreeding: as the population is closed off from genetic variation and this might have led to the preservation of the mutation responsible.

Here in 'Born to Be Wild' we learn that there are an estimated 200–300 Qinling pandas living in the wild and that on August 30th, 1989, a female of this species was captured and brought to the Xi'an Zoo to be mated with a regular giant panda.

This panda's offspring was black-and-white, but reportedly started becoming brownish as it aged. According to other reports she gave birth to three cubs, all of whom died shortly after being born. The mother, named Dan-Dan, died in 2000.

Due to the Qinling subspecies being captive, it has been exposed to toxicants in their bamboo diet. Even though it is not fully known which toxicants it has been exposed to, it was determined to be heavy metals from atmospheric deposition.

Thus, the conservation of the Qinling pandas may be compromised in the future due to air pollution in China.

Funnily enough, we also learn that dental health is important for the survival of the Qinling Pandas. These pandas have a survival rate of 5-20 years. The most common dental abnormalities that Qinling Pandas face are dental attrition and fractures. These two abnormalities can impact the survival rate of these pandas. This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs.

www.PBS.org





...Archives