Thinking about the panda bear recently, I started wondering about its name.
What's the origin of the word "panda"? Which language does it come from?
I looked it up, and it seems a bit of a mystery. No one really knows.
But here's some information I found:
"Name
No conclusive explanation of the origin of the word panda has been found. The closest candidate is the Nepali word ponya, possibly referring to the adapted wrist bone of the red panda, which is native to Nepal. The Western world originally applied this name to the red panda. Until 1901, when it was erroneously stated to be related to the red panda, the giant panda was known as "black and white cat-footed animal" (Ailuropus melanoleucus).[99]
In most encyclopedic sources, the name "panda" or "common panda" originally referred to the lesser-known red panda,[100]thus necessitating the inclusion of "giant" and "lesser/red" prefixes in front of the names."
Perhaps the word "panda" is from the Chinese language? Turns out that the answer is No.
In China, one of the most popular names for this cuddly bear is "dàxióngmāo (大熊貓 literally "giant bear cat")."
Now, let's move on from this bear's name to its babies -- its cubs.
When a panda cub is born, what is its colour?
Is it
a) black and white
b) white
c) black
d) grey
e) brown
f) bamboo-green
I hope you didn't choose any of the above.
A panda cub, when born, has a colour which has four letters.
_ _ _ _
(Hint 1: There is only one vowel.
Hint 2: Part of the word can make you go "ouch"!!
Hint 3: Think about " _ _ _ curl").
Further, here's another piece of information. "The giant panda produces the proportionally smallest baby of any placental mammal."
When a panda cub is born, it arrives "weighing only 90 to 130 grams (3.2 to 4.6 ounces), or about 1/800th of the mother's weight."
To give you a rough idea of the tiny weight of a newborn panda cub, think about an apple. A smallish apple is about 100 grams!!
Link to the above apple photo:
Link to the Wikipedia article giving the above information regarding pandas:
And now, here's a short (about 1 minute) and sweet video by CCTV News.
Its title:
So Cute! Panda asks for hug to get down from tree!
By the way, just in case, here's the link for the above panda video on youtube:
