Bamboo bear vs Columbia Water-Meal

Ailuropoda melanoleuca compared with Wolffia columbiana

Key Differences

Bamboo bear is Vulnerable while Columbia Water-Meal is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Bamboo bear	Columbia Water-Meal
Kingdom	Animalia (動物)	Plantae (植物)
Phylum	Chordata (脊索動物)	Magnoliophyta (被子植物門)
Class	Mammalia (哺乳類)	Liliopsida (単子葉植物綱)
Order	Carnivora (ネコ目)	Alismatales (オモダカ目)
Family	Ursidae (Bears)	Araceae
Genus	Ailuropoda (Giant Pandas)	Wolffia
Species	Ailuropoda melanoleuca	Wolffia columbiana

Conservation Status

Bamboo bear

VU — Vulnerable

Population: ~1.9K

Trend: Increasing ↑

Columbia Water-Meal

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Bamboo bear	Columbia Water-Meal
Diet	Herbivore	—
Average Lifespan	20 years	—
Average Length	1.5 m	—
Average Weight	100.0 kg	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Bamboo bear

Habitat

Found across multiple habitat types including tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, temperate coniferous forests, and temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, among 7 distinct biome types spanning the Indomalayan and Palearctic realms. Populations are also found in montane and highland environments at higher elevations.

Range

Found in China. Currently classified as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, this species faces significant conservation challenges across its range.

Columbia Water-Meal

Habitat

Typically found in grasslands, wetlands, forests, and cultivated landscapes.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (India), Europe (4 countries), North America (Canada, United States), and South America (Brazil, Colombia).

Bamboo bear

ジャイアントパンダ（Ailuropoda melanoleuca）は中国中部の山岳竹林に生息し、体重最大125キログラムになるクマ科の動物で、食肉目に分類されながら食事の99%を竹が占める特異な食性を持つ。偽の親指（橈側種子骨）を使って竹の茎を把握し、1日14時間もの採食時間を費やす。2016年にIUCNレッドリストで絶滅危惧から危急（VU）へ改善されており、保護繁殖プログラムと自然保護区の設置が個体数回復に貢献している。

Columbia Water-Meal

<em>Wolffia columbiana</em> is a diminutive aquatic flowering plant belonging to the family Araceae, widely recognized as one of the smallest known vascular plants on Earth. It inhabits still or slow-moving freshwater environments, including ponds, lakes, ditches, and quiet backwaters, where it floats freely at or just below the water surface. The species occurs across a broad geographic range spanning the Americas. As a rootless, leafless organism, <em>W. columbiana</em> consists of a tiny oval thallus, measuring only a fraction of a millimeter in diameter, which carries out photosynthesis directly through its green surface tissue. Reproduction is primarily vegetative, with daughter plants budding from a specialized pouch on the parent thallus, enabling rapid population expansion under favorable conditions. The species is assessed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, reflecting its wide distribution and tolerance of varied freshwater conditions.