The giant panda [ailuropoda melanoleuca] is classified in the ursidae family, meaning the bear family. It was sometimes classified as a raccoon! The giant panda looks like a black and white bear, with a head looking a little too large for his body. It also has a short, stumpy tail. The giant panda weighs about 200-300 lbs, is 4-5 ft long, and is 2-3 feet high when on all fours. THey have very poor eyesight, and basically no enemies, not including the major threat to humans. They will not attack a human unless they are very close to it, and are mostly solitary animals. Giant pandas live to up to 20 years, and they don't like to move around. Only in captivity are they playful.
The giant pandas live in and around the Himalayas, China and Tibet where there are forests with bamboo. There are only about 1000 pandas left in the wild, and 150 in captivity.
The giant panda diet mainly contains bamboo. Bamboo is not altogether nourishing, so the need to eat alot to get nourished enough. They sometimes will eat grasses and stems, and occasionally small rodents. Surprisingly, giant pandas are listed as carnivorous.
The age for giant pandas to start breedin is 5-6 years of age. The time to breed is a small section of each spring each year, where males compete to mate with the female. The baby is usually born 3-5 months after breeding. A female can produce 1-3 babies, although the mother only gives attention to one baby, so the other ones usually die :-( The babies are small, usually weighing a quarter pound, blind for up to 8 weeks, and immoble for 3 months. They are almost hairless when born, and they stay with there mother for about 18 months.
The giant pandas were discovered by europeans in 1869. The main reason that the Giant Panda is so critically endangered is because of loss of habitat. Deforestation and farmers have driven them up to the mountains, and are taking away all of the forests that hold the giant pandas habitat and bamboo. Poachers are also a threat to giant pandas. A panda fur coat would sell at 100,000$ on the market. Many orginizations are trying to help the giant pandas especially the World Wildlife Fund [WWF]. THe logo is actually a giant panda! WWF and other clubs and orginizations will be pleased if you give donations to the lovable, cute, giant panda!
Red Pandas
Giant Pandas
Conservation