Pandas set of four wooden coasters, square with rounded corners and a cork backing. Face has a gloss finish for added protection. 3.75 x 3.75 in. Two giant panda coasters and two red panda coasters.
Original artwork © 2006 Samara E. King & TwoBee, LLC rendered in color pencil for Smithsonian National Zoo.
Due to habitat loss, low birthrate, bamboo shortage and human predation, the Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) was previously listed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as ‘Endangered.’ In a welcome piece of good news, in 2016 the giant panda’s status was changed to ‘Vulnerable’, demonstrating how an integrated approach can help save our planet’s vanishing biodiversity. Giant pandas are, what conservationists term, an ‘umbrella species’. This is a conservation strategy that focuses on protecting the habitat of one species resulting in the protection of many others in the same ecosystem. The giant panda’s range overlaps 70 percent of forest bird species, 70 percent of forest mammals, and 31 percent of amphibians endemic to China’s mainland. Learn more about the giant panda at: https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/giant-panda
Original artwork © 2007 Samara E. King & TwoBee, LLC rendered in color pencil for Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago.
Despite their name, Red Pandas (Ailurus fulgens) are not related to giant pandas, although they share some characteristics (such as a diet mainly consisting of bamboo). Red pandas are in a class all by themselves. The sharp-toothed, ring-tailed omnivores are the only living members of the Ailuridae family, which is part of the superfamily Musteloidea (along with weasels, raccoons and skunks). Red pandas are listed as 'endangered' by the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species and are legally protected in India, Bhutan, China, Nepal and Myanmar. Their primary threats are habitat loss and degradation, human interference and poaching. Learn more about red panda conservation at: https://www.redpandanetwork.org
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