The Giant PandaThe giant panda is a bear. It lives in south
central China. Although it is classified with other bears as
carnivorous, the pandas diet is 99% bamboo. Appearance. Giant
pandas are covered with fur. Their fur is black and white. The
black fur is on their ears, around their eyes, on their legs and on
their shoulders. They are about 3 feet tall at the shoulder when
they are standing on all four legs. They are about 6 feet long.
Males weigh up to 110 kg while females weigh less than 100
kg.Living areas (Habitat). Wild giant pandas live in the mountains
of central China. They live in forests with tall trees. They eat
bamboo that grows under the trees. The weather is rainy and misty
in these mountain forests. There are thick clouds almost all the
time.Food and water. In the wild, pandas eat a lot of bamboo. They
eat as much as 18 kg of bamboo every day. They spend 10 to 16 hours
every day looking for food and eating it. Bamboo is a grass.
Sometimes giant pandas eat other grasses though. They also eat
little rodents and baby deer. In zoos, giant pandas eat bamboo,
sugar cane, vegetables and fruit. Giant pandas get a lot of water
from the bamboo they eat. They also drink from the streams and
rivers in the mountain.Population. The giant panda is an endangered
species. That means there is a very small number of pandas living
in the world nowadays. In 2013, it was estimated that there were
less than 2,500 mature giant pandas living in the wild and this
number will continue to decline if measures are not taken to
preserve it.
The Polar BearThe polar bear is a carnivorous bear whose native
habitat is the Arctic Circle. Its a large bear with body
characteristics adapted for cold temperatures.Appearance. The polar
bear is the largest living species of a carnivore on earth. An
adult male polar bear weighs up to 350 700 kg while an adult female
may weigh from 150-250 kg. Its height is around 4 feet 4 inches and
its length from 7 to 9 feet long. Its body is insulated in blubber,
a thick layer of fat and is covered with white fur which usually
yellows as it grows old. Habitat. The polar bears native habitat is
within the Arctic Circle which includes the Arctic Ocean and the
seas and countries around it. It spends many months at sea. It
usually looks for areas where sea ice meets water to hunt for seals
to eat. When the ice melts in the summer, polar bears go to land
and wait until the sea water freezes again.Food. Polar bears hunt
seals to eat. Mature bears tend to eat only the skin and blubber of
the seal while younger bears eat the meat. When sea ice is unfrozen
and they cannot hunt for seals, they have also been observed to eat
birds, eggs, rodents and crabs and even other polar bears. And
although not a significant part of their diet, they may also eat
plants like berries and roots. Population. In 2008, there are
around 20,000 to 25,000 remaining polar bears in the world.
Although far from being extinct, the polar bear is considered a
vulnerable species because its population is declining.
Flow Diagram for Comparison and Contrast Essay
SIMILARITIESBody Covering both fur
DIFFERENCESMain food - sealDIFFERENCESMain food - bamboo
POLAR BEARGIANT PANDA
