It may come as a surprise to learn, but not all pandas look the same.
In fact, there’s one furry, bamboo-crunching panda who looks remarkably different from his fellow mammals, and although his differences have made him something of an outsider in the panda community, they’ve also brought him international fame and stardom.
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10-year-old Qiazi is the world’s only brown and white panda in captivity.
According to Daily Mail , the unusually-colored and supremely rare bear was first discovered by researchers from a nature reserve in China’s Qinling Mountains when he was just two months old.
The weak panda cub was believed to have been abandoned by his mother and left to fend for himself in the jungle.
Qiazi was brought to the nearby Shaanxi Rare Wildlife Rescue, Breeding and Research Centre.
There he received medical attention and was also fed panda milk that the center had on supply from other pandas.
However, Qiazi’s rescue was not without its problems, and the young panda soon found himself a target for the other black and white bears who took to bullying the unusual looking cub by eating all his bamboo.
Now, 10 years later, Qiazi has reportedly grown into a “strong, active” panda who is “full of energy.”
And, just this week, the U.S.-based charity, Pandas International, formally adopted Qiazi, finally giving him the “family” he never had growing up.
The organization, which is dedicated to saving giant pandas, has worked closely with Qiazi’s center for years by donating vaccines, lab instruments, baby panda cribs and milk powder to the center. They’ve also contributed by helping with daily tasks and chores.
Although Qiazi will continue to live in China, Pandas International will be given access to visit him and will also receive regular updates about him
On Wednesday, the center held a small ceremony to celebrate Panda International adopting the sweet, rare Qiazi.
The brown’s panda’s unusual coloring is believed to be due to a genetic mutation.
Researchers previously attempted to mate Qiazi with a black and white panda to learn more about the mutation, but the mating did not result in a pregnancy.
Katherine Feng, an American vet and member of the International League of Conservation Photographers, explained that brown pandas are extremely rare.
So rare, in fact, that there have only been five sightings since they were first discovered in 1985.
“Brown-and-white pandas have only been seen in the Qinling Mountains,” Feng told Daily Mail . “The Qinling Mountain pandas are considered a different sub-species from those found in other mountain ranges.”
She continued, “It is suspected that the brown and white coloring of pandas has a genetic basis, possible a result of a double recessive gene, a combination of genes or a dilution factor gene. Qizai’s mother was black and white.”
h/t: Daily Mail , Twitter | @XinhuaTravel , Facebook | Md Mohasin
