Giant Panda

ANIMAL:
Giant Panda    Ailuropoda melanoleuca

Type of Animal:
Bear

Habitat:
Bamboo forest, broadleaf forest, coniferous forest

Location(s):
Forests of Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi, & Gansu

Appearance:
Black leg area w/ mainly white backside & torso, black ears & nose, whitish face. Male larger than female.

Food/Diet:
98% bamboo. Also eats other grasses, tubers, flowers, vines, mushrooms, bulbs, carrion, rodents, birds, musk deer fawns, fish, insects, eggs, honey, & fruit.

Status in Wild:
Endangered

Conservation:
Breeding in zoos & breeding centers.

Lifestyle:
Solitary

Additional Info:

Called:
Male-Boar
Female-Sow
Young-Cub
Group-Solitary

Weight:
Male-220 lbs
Female-180 lbs
Young-15-20 lbs

Gestation:
4-5 months 

Life Span:
14-20 years in wild, up to 30 years in captivity

Height:
Male-3 ft
Female-2.5 ft

Body Length:
Male-6 ft
Female-5.25 ft

Tail Length:
0.5 ft

Adults have no predators. Cubs preyed on by leopards, dholes, martens, & male black bears.

Wolong & Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Centers play very strong role in panda conservation, in China & worldwide.

Fights over territory often vicious, sometimes deadly.

Known to be extremely difficult to breed, since female is in heat only 1 day a year.

Sexually mature at 4 years old.

Females often raise only 1 cub if more than 1 cub is born.

Endangered due to habitat fragmentation, deforestation, hunting for fur/feet, persecution, climate change, & accidental victims of poachers’ snares.

The Chinese government gives non-Chinese institutions a 10-year lease for obtaining pandas, sometimes giving 5-year extensions.

Females give birth only every other year.

Fun Fact(s):
One of most expensive animals to keep in a zoo.

When born, cubs only the size of a stick of butter.

In China, killing pandas carries life sentence, & even the death penalty.

Symbol of World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Often the highest-rated attraction in a zoo.

Though they look cute & cuddly, they’re in fact very dangerous, especially when provoked or if it’s a female w/ cubs.