Writing Resources
Meet Ling Ling the giant Panda She has a cute chubby face from her large cheek muscles distinctive white fur and black features on her eyes legs arms She also has strong defense mechanisms such as being physically strong having powerful jaws large molar teeth and the ability to swim climbing large trees to help her survive More importantly she is a vulnerable species where only 1 864 giant pandas are currently living in the entire world making their population very small Additionally pandas have a type II survivorship curve where they have a high mortality rate throughout their entire life cubhood to adulthood Currently Ling Ling is 4 years old in human years and has experienced all the stages of her panda life cycle but has a lifespan of 20 to 30 years
She has lived in China during the newborn stage 0 to 4 months old cubhood 4 to 24 months old and the independence stage 1 5 to 2 years old but is currently living her adulthood stage 4 to 30 years old at the Toronto Zoo She enjoys her free time by playing with the other giant pandas and taking many much needed naps But she is most known for munching down bamboo and on occasions small animals and fish for 10 to 16 hours per day Luckily she has a symbiotic relationship with bacteria that break down the nutrients and minerals from the enormous 20 to 40 pounds of bamboo that she eats daily Ling Ling likes her Toronto home but despises the cold Canadian climate During the dark days of winter she especially misses her homeland of the Minshan Mountains in Sichuan China She misses this ideal panda habitat because of its abundance of bamboo the isolated mountain features and the cool moist environment One 30 degrees Celsius day Ling Ling hit her breaking point She could no longer handle the freezing Toronto climate and wanted to move to a warmer environment She told her best friend Amy the zookeeper about her struggles staying warm and decided to make the voyage back to Sichuan China
