In honor of the occasion and with BORN IN CHINA opening in theatres everywhere next month, April 21st, I wanted to share a new panda clip and fun facts. I will have the awesome opportunity to see this film when I head to San Francisco for the Cars 3 Event in a few weeks. I cannot wait!
“Meet Ya Ya & Mei Mei”
Panda Fact Video
Fun Facts
- China is the only place in the world where giant pandas live in the wild.
- Giant pandas—often referred to as just pandas—live in central China in sections of the Sichuan,
Shaannxi and Gansu provinces at elevations ranging from 5,000-10,000 feet. The temperate forests
they live in produce 30-40 inches of precipitation each year—which is good for bamboo. - China has 67 protected reserves to help save existing panda habitat
- Giant pandas are black and white. One theory is that the distinct coloring helps them spot each other
when it comes to mating. Another is that the coloring serves as camou?age–particularly when the animal
is up in trees. - Giant pandas stand between 5’2” and 6’2”. Males weigh 190-275 pounds, while females weigh
155-220 pounds - Pandas live about 14-20 years in the wild.
- The gestation period for pandas ranges from 3-5 months. The average female produces 5-8 cubs in
her lifetime. She can start reproducing at 4-5 years old. - Cubs weigh 3-5 ounces at birth—about the size of a stick of butter. Mom is 900 times bigger. Cubs
are born pink, hairless and blind. They don’t venture far from mom till they’re about six months
old—though they nurse till they’re eight- to nine months old. - Pandas leave their mothers for good at about age 3.
- Giant pandas are bears—but they don’t hibernate. They do, however, spend a lot of time resting and
sleeping—when they’re not eating. - Pandas eat up to 40 pounds of bamboo every day. They have a pseudo thumb—or modied wrist
bone—to help grip the bamboo. They also occasionally eat meat. - Neighbors to the panda include dwarf blue sheep, multi-colored pheasants, crested ibis, golden
snub-nosed monkeys and goat antelopes. Predators of young pandas include jackals, leopards and
yellow-throated marten. - Pandas live a solitary lifestyle, but they do communicate with each other with sounds and scent. They
make goat-like cries and squeaks. To signal nearby giant pandas, they’ll rub a waxy substance on trees
that’s secreted from scent glands at the base of their tails. - Giant pandas will scratch tree bark with their massive claws as a visual sign of where they’ve
been—it’s like they’re writing a quick note to their friends.
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About Born In China
BORN IN CHINA is rated G and opens in theatres everywhere April 21st!
Narrated by John Krasinski (“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” NBC’s “The Office,” “Amazon’s “Jack Ryan”), Disneynature’s new True Life Adventure film “Born In China” takes an epic journey into the wilds of China where few people have ever ventured. Following the stories of three animal families, the film transports audiences to some of the most extreme environments on Earth to witness some of the most intimate moments ever captured in a nature film. A doting panda bear mother guides her growing baby as she begins to explore and seek independence. A two-year-old golden monkey who feels displaced by his new baby sister joins up with a group of free-spirited outcasts. And a mother snow leopard—an elusive animal rarely caught on camera—faces the very real drama of raising her two cubs in one of the harshest and most unforgiving environments on the planet. Featuring stunning, never-before-seen imagery, the film navigates China’s vast terrain—from the frigid mountains to the heart of the bamboo forest—on the wings of red-crowned cranes, seamlessly tying the extraordinary tales together. Opening in U.S. theaters on Earth Day 2017, “Born in China” is directed by accomplished Chinese filmmaker Lu Chuan, and produced by Disney’s Roy Conli and renowned nature filmmakers Brian Leith and Phil Chapman.
Notes:
- “Born in China” is the seventh theatrical release for Disneynature, the first new Disney-branded film label from The Walt Disney Studios in more than 60 years. The label was launched in April 2008 to bring the world’s top nature filmmakers together to capture a variety of wildlife subjects and stories.
- The first six big-screen releases under the Disneynature label—“Earth,” “Oceans,” “African Cats,” “Bears,” “Monkey Kingdom” and “Chimpanzee”—are among the top seven highest grossing feature-length nature films of all time.
- Walt Disney was a pioneer in wildlife documentary filmmaking, producing 13 True Life Adventure motion pictures between 1948 and 1960, including “Seal Island” (1948), “Beaver Valley” (1950), “The Living Desert” (1953) and “Jungle Cat” (1958). The films earned eight Academy Awards®.
ABOUT DISNEYNATURE:
Disneynature was launched in April 2008. Its mission is to bring the world’s top nature filmmakers together to share a wide variety of wildlife stories on the big screen in order to engage, inspire and educate theatrical audiences everywhere. Walt Disney was a pioneer in wildlife filmmaking, producing 13 True-Life Adventure motion pictures between 1948 and 1960, which earned eight Academy Awards®. The first six Disneynature films, “Earth,” “Oceans,” “African Cats,” “Chimpanzee,” “Bears” and “Monkey Kingdom” are six of the top seven highest overall grossing feature-length nature films to date, with “Chimpanzee” garnering a record-breaking opening weekend for the genre. Disneynature’s commitment to conservation is a key pillar of the label and the films empower the audience to help make a difference. Through donations tied to opening-week attendance for all six films, Disneynature, through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund, has contributed to a host of conservation initiatives. Efforts include planting three million trees in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest, established 40,000 acres of marine protected area in The Bahamas, protected 65,000 acres of savanna in Kenya, protected nearly 130,000 acres of wild chimpanzee habitat, cared for chimpanzees and educated 60,000 school children about chimpanzee conservation in the Congo. Additionally, efforts have funded research and restoration grants in U.S. National Parks, supporting conservation projects spanning 400,000 acres of parkland and protecting 75 species of animals and plants, and helped protect monkeys and other endangered species in their natural habitats across Indonesia, Cambodia and Sri Lanka. For more information about Disneynature, like us on Facebook: facebook.com/Disneynature and follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/Disneynature.