In order to make room for housing, businesses, and agriculture, people are destroying the bamboo forests that pandas need for survival. Urban centers are quickly growing and infringing on traditional panda habitats. The biggest threats facing giant pandas include: habitat loss and hunting.Īs the human population in China continues to grow, the demand for land increases. Beginning in the 1970’s, the government began tracking the population size of wild pandas, resulting in one of the largest species-specific population surveys in the world. Under pressure to address the issue of panda conservation, the Chinese government created 4 protected nature reserves and made killing the giant panda illegal at the beginning of the 1960’s. In 1936, a fashion designer from the US brought a cub to the country, drawing attention to its fight for survival. This species is perhaps one of the earliest icons for the plight of endangered animals. As humans began to destroy the bamboo forests within its range to make way for agricultural endeavors and increasing urbanization, the panda began to disappear. This subspecies is light reddish-brown and white in color and can only be found in the Qinling Mountains of Shaanxi province.Īlthough always concentrated in south-central China, the giant panda once inhabited areas as far away as Southeast China and around Beijing. The black and white giant panda is the more common of the two subspecies and can primarily be found in the Sichuan province. This species is divided into two subspecies: the Ailuropoda melanoleuca (the typical black and white panda) and the Ailuropoda melanoleuca qinlingensis (also known as the Qinling panda). The male is larger, typically weighing around 350 pounds, while the female weighs between 150 to 276 pounds. Pandas grow to an average length of between 4 and 6 feet and a shoulder height of 2 to 3 feet. Occasionally, this species may supplement its diet with rodents, carcasses left over from other animals, grasses, or roots. The giant panda relies on the bamboo plant, which makes up nearly all of its diet. Prior to the human developmental activity in the animal's habitat, the giant panda could also be found in lowland areas. The film was Kung Fu Panda (2008) and featured Jack Black in the role of Po, the panda.The giant panda is a large, black and white bear species that is native to the southern region of central China, where it prefers mountainous habitats. They are also the symbol for the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), formally known as World Wildlife Fund.ĭreamworks produced a film about a panda who learns Kung Fu. The deforestation of the provinces push pandas further out of their habitats and has caused a serious decline in population. The Giant Panda lives in the mountain forests of southwest China, usually the Gansu, Shanxi, and Sichuan provinces. Their anal sweat glands secrete smells to mark their territories. Giant pandas are flat-footed, like humans, but this does not stop them from climbing into trees for an afternoon nap. Unlike other bears, Giant Pandas do not roar but have eleven different vocalizations. Its extra digit is adapted to grasp food.Ī Giant Panda has flat molars with ridges and cusps for chewing and grinding food. It has an extra digit on its paw-like an opposable thumb. They spend up to sixteen hours a day eating to gain enough sustenance. The fur is patterned to break up its outline as camouflage in forests to protect itself.Īn average male can grow up to 6ft in length (from snout to tail) and weigh in at 100kg.ĩ9% of a Giant Panda’s diet is made up of branches, stems, and leaves of the bamboo plant. The pandas wore black clothes and their tears mingled with the dye of the fabric, staining their fur. When a shepherdess died protecting a panda, they held a funeral for her.

Like a cat, pandas have slit-like pupils.Ī Chinese story tells us that pandas were originally white. In captivity, giant pandas can live up to 35 years, but only 15 in the wild. Their young are known as cubs.Ĭubs are born blind, but sadly survival rate is low. In China, they are known as ‘da xiong mao’, which means giant bear cat. The Latin for Giant Panda is ‘ ailuropda melanoleuca’. Read on for 25 interesting facts about Giant Pandas!

Black and white, cuddly and endangered, which can only be the Giant Panda!