Where do giant pandas live?

Elizabeth from the United States wrote:
Where do giant pandas live?

GLOBIO Traveling Teacher says:

Hi Elizabeth.

Giant pandas live in a few isolated mountain ranges in the provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu in south-central China. They live in broadleaf and coniferous forests with a dense understory of bamboo, at elevations between 1,500 m and 3,000 m. Torrential rains, dense mists, and heavy cloud cover characterize these forests throughout much of the year. The giant panda has lived in bamboo forests for several million years. It is a highly specialized animal, with unique adaptations.

Thanks for the great question,
GLOBIO Traveling Teacher

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How much bamboo do pandas eat each day?

How much bamboo do pandas eat a day?

GLOBIO Traveling Teacher says:

Hi Marisca,

Bamboo is the giant panda's favorite food. Adult giant pandas will spend 10 to 16 hours a day finding and eating bamboo. They eat different parts of the plant depending on the time of year. In the summer and autumn, pandas munch mostly on leaves. Winter means a diet of tough stems. Spring provides tender, young bamboo shoots.

A giant panda’s digestive system is similar to that of a carnivore rather than an herbivore. Because bamboo does not provide much nutrition, a panda needs to eat a large amount of food. It may eat up to 20 kg of bamboo each day to get all the nutrients it needs.


Thanks for the great question,
GLOBIO Traveling Teacher

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Marisca from South Africa wrote:

What Do Seals Eat?

Dasfgfve from United States wrote:
What do seals eat?

GLOBIO Traveling Teacher says:

Hi There,

Seals eat mostly fish. They also like a few other things like crabs, shrimp and even octopus if they can catch them.

And we have great article about seals in Glossopedia. If you want to know more about them click on the picture below.

Thanks for the great question,
GLOBIO Traveling Teacher

To learn more click here:

What Are the Blips on the Glossopedia Map?

Jess from United Kingdom wrote:
What are those little red blips on the map and why are they there ?

GLOBIO Traveling Teacher says:

Hi Jess,

Those little red blips were an idea our web designers had for showing you where that creature or subject is found on the map. And the size of the blips means how big an area that thing covers. If you change pictures on the bottom you will see that the blips change for each picture.

We have a different idea for this that we will be trying in the future.

Thanks for the great question,
GLOBIO Traveling Teacher

How Many Animals Are in the Rainforest?

Kenda from United States wrote:
About how many different kinds of animals visit the rain forest every year?

GLOBIO Traveling Teacher says:

Hi Kenda,

That's a very difficult question to answer. The best estimate scientists have is there are over half a million (500,000) known creatures in the rainforests of the world.

There are several hundreds of thousands of different animals - birds, mammals, insects, fishes, reptiles - that live in the rainforest. In fact, every year scientists discover many new species - most are small like insects, but once in a while they discover something bigger like a cat or bat.

Thanks for the great question,
GLOBIO Traveling Teacher

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How do hibernating animals survive in winter?

Thivanks from Fiji wrote:
How do hybernating animals survive in winter?

GLOBIO Traveling Teacher says:

Hi Thivanka.

That's a great question, because it's kind of hard to imagine how hibernating animals survive the winter.

When animals hibernate, they sleep through the winter to avoid the cold weather and save energy. During the fall, animals that hibernate eat A LOT and gain lots of weight as fat. As winter approaches, the animals find a suitable place to hibernate. During hibernation they live off their body fat as they sleep for several day or weeks. The animals' breathing and heart beats slow down and usually their body temperatures drop to match the temperatures outside. Examples of hibernating animals are bears, frogs, bats, & raccoons.

To be more specific, the black bear is a good example of an animal that hibernates in winter. Black bears eat more than usual in the fall and can gain as much as 30 pounds per week. They also gather leaves, grass, and twigs to make warm beds. They use these beds to sleep on in dens, burrows, caves, hollowed-out trees, or rock crevices. While hibernating, their body temperatures can drop from a typical 99-101 degrees Fahrenheit to 88-95 degrees. A black bear's heartbeat also goes down from 60 to 90 times per minute to as few as 8 to 40 beats per minute. The black bear can go as long as 100 days without eating, drinking, urinating, or exercising while in the hibernation state.

Non-hibernating animals migrate or adapt to survive harsh, cold weather in winter.

I hope that information is helpful!

Thanks for the great question,
GLOBIO Traveling Teacher

Is There a Definition for Vampires?

Jojo from Canada wrote:
Why don't you put in a definition for vampires?????

GLOBIO Traveling Teacher says:

Hi Jojo!

That's a good suggestion - I'll pass your idea along to the website people.

In the meantime, here is a definition:

1) Vampire (bats) do drink blood, but they do not suck it from an animal.
Instead, they make a tiny cut and lap up the blood that drips out.

2) Vampires are mythical, or make-believe, creatures that appear in human form and emerge in darkness or low light. The modern fiction about vampires started in the 1800's and became very popular in 1897 with the book Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Thanks for the great question,
GLOBIO Traveling Teacher

To learn more about bats, including vampire bats, click here: