The black and white Giant panda was discovered over 100 years ago. Only now are we beginning to understand more about this secretive creature's life in the wild.
Class: Mammalia (mammal)
Order: Carnivora (meat-eating mammals)
Family: Ursidae (bears)
The Giant panda has highly developed chewing muscles and very powerful broad cheek teeth. The feet are turned inwards and have 5 toes and hairy soles. Giant pandas are about 150 cm long from nose to rump, with a 10-15cm tail. A large panda weighs about 100-150kg. Males are 10% bigger and 20% heavier than females.
The Giant panda has an enlarged wrist bone that can be folded over to work as a ‘thumb’ to grasp the bamboo shoots they love to eat. Pandas have keen eyesight.
Where are Giant Pandas found?
The Giant panda lives in cool mountain forests where bamboo grows profusely. Today it is found only in small areas of Southwest China and to the eastern rim of the Tibetan plateau, at altitudes of 2,600 to 3,500m. Often the area is snow bound.
The Giant panda ambles through the bamboo forest and moves through its home range using the same paths and tunnels frequently. Sometimes, it may use man-made paths. These paths connect feeding sites with rock or tree dens and sleeping spots. Pandas rest in higher regions during the day and go down to the lower areas at night to feed.
Favourite food: bamboo shoots
Although the Giant Panda has the digestive system of a carnivore, it is actually a herbivore, with 99% of its diet consisting of bamboo. It feeds on both the shoots and the roots but whenever available, it prefers the tender leaves and stems. Its cheek teeth are so powerful that they can slice and crush stems as thick as a man's leg! The panda also eats some bulbs and tubers of other plants, grasses and small insects. A giant panda may consume 12-38 kg of bamboo a day to meet its energy requirements.
Raising a family
Giant pandas reach breeding maturity between 4 and 8 years of age. They may be reproductive until about age 20. Female pandas ovulate only once a year, in the spring. A short period of 2 to 3 days around ovulation is the only time she is able to conceive. Calls and scents draw males and females to each other.
Females bear their young in dens made in the ground. One or 2 cubs are born but normally only 1 survives. Offspring stay with their mothers from 1 to 3 years.
Class: Mammalia (mammal)
Order: Carnivora (meat-eating mammals)
Family: Ursidae (bears)
The Giant panda has highly developed chewing muscles and very powerful broad cheek teeth. The feet are turned inwards and have 5 toes and hairy soles. Giant pandas are about 150 cm long from nose to rump, with a 10-15cm tail. A large panda weighs about 100-150kg. Males are 10% bigger and 20% heavier than females.
The Giant panda has an enlarged wrist bone that can be folded over to work as a ‘thumb’ to grasp the bamboo shoots they love to eat. Pandas have keen eyesight.
Where are Giant Pandas found?
The Giant panda lives in cool mountain forests where bamboo grows profusely. Today it is found only in small areas of Southwest China and to the eastern rim of the Tibetan plateau, at altitudes of 2,600 to 3,500m. Often the area is snow bound.
The Giant panda ambles through the bamboo forest and moves through its home range using the same paths and tunnels frequently. Sometimes, it may use man-made paths. These paths connect feeding sites with rock or tree dens and sleeping spots. Pandas rest in higher regions during the day and go down to the lower areas at night to feed.
Favourite food: bamboo shoots
Although the Giant Panda has the digestive system of a carnivore, it is actually a herbivore, with 99% of its diet consisting of bamboo. It feeds on both the shoots and the roots but whenever available, it prefers the tender leaves and stems. Its cheek teeth are so powerful that they can slice and crush stems as thick as a man's leg! The panda also eats some bulbs and tubers of other plants, grasses and small insects. A giant panda may consume 12-38 kg of bamboo a day to meet its energy requirements.
Raising a family
Giant pandas reach breeding maturity between 4 and 8 years of age. They may be reproductive until about age 20. Female pandas ovulate only once a year, in the spring. A short period of 2 to 3 days around ovulation is the only time she is able to conceive. Calls and scents draw males and females to each other.
Females bear their young in dens made in the ground. One or 2 cubs are born but normally only 1 survives. Offspring stay with their mothers from 1 to 3 years.
Panda facts
- Pink, helpless, and blind, the cub is 1/900th the size of its mother. Except for a marsupial (such as the kangaroo or opossum), a giant panda baby is the smallest mammal newborn relative to its mother's size. The cubs weigh about 85-140g at birth. Their eyes open at 6 to 7 weeks and they follow their mother when they are about 3 months old.
- Pandas live mainly on the ground but are also able to climb trees.
- Pandas do not hibernate, but often relocate to lower altitudes in the winter and spring.
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