A significant amount of research indicates that giant pandas have highly developed senses of smell and hearing but poor vision. However, no specific values for panda vision have been provided. To clarify this issue, researchers at Beijing Normal University conducted an experiment.
The researchers selected eight captive giant pandas for the experiment: four males and four females. They used several black and white cards with different patterns and induced the pandas to react to the horizontally moving cards through scent. This was done to determine whether the pandas could distinguish between the patterns on the cards from a certain distance.
After long-term observation, the researchers found that if a panda could differentiate between two cards with different patterns, its eyes would continue to track the cards. If the panda couldn’t distinguish the patterns, it would quickly stop tracking the cards, indicating that it couldn’t see the cards clearly. The results showed that pandas could distinguish black and white stripes with a width of 0.46 millimeters from a distance of about 50 centimeters. After professional analysis of this data, researchers concluded that the vision index of a panda is approximately 0.32, making them significantly nearsighted.
According to human standards, giant pandas would have a vision comparable to someone with 800 degrees of myopia, meaning they can only see objects a few meters away clearly. However, this does not affect their survival in the wild. Pandas live in forests or bamboo groves, where tall vegetation blocks out much sunlight, resulting in low visibility. Even if pandas had better eyesight, they still wouldn’t be able to see far. Additionally, like many wild animals, pandas primarily rely on their keen sense of smell and hearing to find food and assess threats, so poor vision is not a significant issue for them.
Related Knowledge
Why do giant pandas’ eyes look so big?
Giant pandas have black circles around their eyes, which help absorb sunlight and protect their eyes from UV rays. These black circles, combined with their almost invisible eye whites, make their eyes appear larger. Without the black circles, their eyes would appear small and disproportionate to their large faces.
What other animals are nearsighted besides giant pandas?
All bear species and various rhinoceroses also have poor vision, relying primarily on their sense of smell and hearing to navigate their surroundings. Rhinos, when they see a person or object ahead, often charge because the close distance makes them feel threatened.
What factors affect the vision of animals?
Several factors influence animal vision, including eye size, eye position, and living environment. Carnivorous mammals and birds of prey typically have eyes located at the front of their heads, providing a larger overlapping field of view and enabling better depth perception. This helps them judge the location of their prey. Herbivores usually have eyes positioned more to the sides of their heads, giving them a wider field of view to detect predators. Animals living underwater or in caves generally have poor vision due to the low-light environment.