There are two varieties of pandas, but they are very different from each other. The lesser panda is small and raccoon-like with long reddish-brown fur and a long, ringed tail. Its home is in the Himalaya Mountains near India. The more interesting panda that looks like a big stuffed toy and seems like a cross between a bear and a raccoon is the giant or great panda. It also lives in the high Himalayas along the border of China and Tibet.
The giant panda has a round white head with jet-black ears and nose and black patches around its eyes. This unusual black and white chubby animal looks so lovable it is a favorite of people everywhere. Its playful nature makes it a popular attraction at zoos. When fully grown it is almost five feet long and two feet high at the shoulder - about the size of a small bear, with just a stump of a tail. The cubs are especially cute and cuddly, and they are carefully watched by their mothers.
About 20 kinds of bamboo can serve as food for them, but they are choosy and prefer just 5 of them. They seem to know which parts of these plants have the most food value. At certain times of the year they eat just the leaves and stalks and at other seasons only the plant stems. Having big appetites, they eat about 100 pounds of bamboo every day. The Creator has given them big, strong jaws and huge molar teeth especially adapted for this kind of food.
Living in such a small area in this remote part of the world and always hiding when people approach, these pandas are not seen in the wild very often. The Chinese people love them and are concerned because they may soon become extinct. The Himalayan forests are being thinned out by people moving into them, as well as by plant diseases killing many of the trees.
Although most people did not know about the great panda until the early part of this century, it has always been under the watchful care of its Creator, as the opening verse of this article tells us. Another Bible verse says: “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest [displayed] in His sight” (Hebrews 4:1313Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. (Hebrews 4:13)).
If God thinks about and cares for animals far off in remote mountains, just think how much more He must care for you. This care is included in His great love to this world in sending His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the world to “give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:2828Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28)). All who come to Him as needy sinners, sorry for their sins, and accept Him as their Saviour, are made His very own forever. If you have not done this yet, He invites you to come to Him today.
DECEMBER 15, 1996
ML-12/15/1996