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Feral pandas

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Bamboo can grow just about anywhere in the world. A couple of years' growth to establish colonies and pandas can be released into the wild instead of being something only seen in a zoo.
Yarely, Aug 19 2008

A somewhat similar idea Gorillas_20for_20Molokai
[bnip, Aug 19 2008]

Scientists propose "assisted migration" of ice bears to Antarctica http://www.eurekale.../uota-gwe071508.php
To save them from climate change; suggest we do this for many other species. [django, Aug 19 2008]

Kojak http://www.tv.com/K...ow/143/summary.html
[po, Aug 20 2008]

Feral Pandas http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12517347/
"...the animal scampered into a nearby bamboo forest" [mylodon, Aug 20 2008]

Feral Pandas are Sissies http://news.bbc.co....pacific/6707455.stm
"... and then was killed by a wild panda" [mylodon, Aug 22 2008]


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Annotation:







       Do you mean the big black-and-white bears (giant pandas)?   

       From what I hear, introducing non-native species to new places can have negative ecological consequences.
bnip, Aug 19 2008
  

       But increasing their habitat in their historical range would be a very good idea.
bnip, Aug 19 2008
  

       I've read that breeding pandas is one of the most difficult things to do. Expanding their habitats by re-establishing bamboo zones is probably a good, though not original idea.   

       [Bnip] is right about the possible negative consequences on biodiversity. A well known example is that of feral bush pigs in Australia - these animals breed ferociously and have destabilized the balance of large ecosystems.   

       Perhaps pandas won't be such a problem, but you never know. And that's why it remains a risky proposition.   

       On the other hand, finally, there has recently been a similar idea by real scientists, who have plead to re-introduce large wild animals in the United States (like wolves), and there's been the even more recent idea of moving threatened species into entirely new habitats to protect them against climate change.   

       Moving ice-bears to Antarctica [link].   

       So I'm sure there are both positives and negatives to this idea.
django, Aug 19 2008
  

       hmmm, if you were to cross one with a Kodiak would it be a Granda or a Pizzly?   

       Wasn't there a Huggy Bear on Kodiak, that detective show with Telly Savalas?
bnip, Aug 20 2008
  

       Couldn't you get feral pandas simply by feeding them more iron in their diets?
coprocephalous, Aug 20 2008
  

       The singer from Jane's Addiction is very feral. <grins, ducks>
bnip, Aug 20 2008
  

       Plant urban green spaces with bamboo thickets ?   

       Feral Urban Pandas ?
8th of 7, Aug 20 2008
  

       What is the idea here? There are wild Pandas. There are captive pandas that have been released (see link). People have been planting bamboo -- is this it? Plant more bamboo in China?
mylodon, Aug 20 2008
  

       Plant more bamboo in terracotte pots ? In surburban gardens ?   

       There are urban foxes - why not urban pandas ?
8th of 7, Aug 20 2008
  

       Urban foxes look so pathetic though.   

       Imagine something like Trafalger Square, but with bamboo in the middle, and 1000 pandas. Half of them would be missing a foot, the other half would have bald patches missing from the back of their neck or infected eyeballs.   

       Is that something you want?   

       [edit] Then again I know nothing about pandas. Maybe they are like cats, and can maintain a kind of dignity whilst on the street. In that case I'd be all for it, providing they cleaned up after themselves.
mylodon, Aug 20 2008
  

       A single Panda requires about 5 square kilometers of bamboo forest. Mind you - bamboo is increasingly being used to manufacture flooring and furniture, so making several square kilometers of bamboo forest economically sustainable isn't impossible.   

       [+]
wagster, Aug 20 2008
  

       // A ... Panda requires ... 5 square kilometers of bamboo //   

       How many suburban gardens does that translate to ?   

       "There are Pandas at the bottom of our garden !"
8th of 7, Aug 20 2008
  

       Real problem here is the bamboo an aggressive invasive species in many areas. Pandas would not be able to control the population much as koala do not control the population of eucalyptus. Furthermore i feel that idea reflects a real misunderstanding about why there aren't pandas near Seattle or Freetown or wherever. Furthermore as Pandas are not a domesticated species they cannot be feral. There is a large population of pandas in the wild. If you want to see them please do. (no idea here?)
WcW, Aug 21 2008
  

       There is an idea here, WcW. You might not like it or even have read it or understood it or appreciated the comments it attracted, but that doesn't mean it isn't an idea.
Yarely, Aug 21 2008
  

       It would be quite amusing to see a panda lumbering down the escalator on the london tube or jumping on a red bus or sitting nonchalently chewing a sprig of bamboo on a wall at trafalgar square but aren't these guys a wee tad ferocious?
po, Aug 21 2008
  

       ... and then along comes the mayor.   

       come to think of it, Nelson would look good surrounded by bamboo with lions peeking out of it.   

       how tall does this stuff grow? 25 metre apparently - half the size of the column at 56 metre.
po, Aug 21 2008
  

       If you created urban gorillas instead of pandas and made a film about this, would it be called "Gorillas In The Midst"?
xenzag, Aug 21 2008
  

       This is actually the exact same idea as Gorillas for Molokai. The text of that idea proposes both gorillas and pandas, but it seemed excessive to include both beasts in the title. And so, I think it is a good idea.
bungston, Aug 21 2008
  

       Washington, DC, has pandas in its National Zoo. There's a patch of bamboo growing wild not far off Rock Creek Park, less than a mile from the zoo. You could break the pandas free one night, and lead them to their new home.   

       (I cut a couple of 15-foot-long stalks of bamboo out of the patch, carried them over my shoulder through DC, and now use them as poles when canoeing up rivers here in Missouri.)
baconbrain, Aug 21 2008
  

       I'm still not clear on how we can establish "feral" panda populations. According to the Xinhua News Agency there is a wild population of approximately 1600 and a captive population of 239. Because of their need to migrate from temperate climes in summer to warmer areas in the winter rather than hibernate they must live in very specific areas to which they must be instinctualy adapted. This migration seems to be key for initiating breeding. Furthermore within this range pandas must have at least two different species of bamboo in their range to avoid seasonal starvation. Establishing a new panda population would require quite a special piece of land. A released population of pandas could survive eating a more "bearlike" diet such a population would be unlikely to breed and remain healthy. -WikiVodka.
WcW, Aug 21 2008
  

       [Yarely] Maybe you should join WWF and help them plant bamboo for pandas, which they are doing already.
mylodon, Aug 22 2008
  

       [bnip], you should duck. That's thirty seconds of google images that I'll never get back.
normzone, Aug 22 2008
  

       <peeks out to see if its safe, then hides again>
bnip, Aug 22 2008
  


 

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