What animal is black and white and loved all

over the world? If you guessed the giant

panda, you’re right! The giant panda is also

known as the panda bear or bamboo bear, or

in Chinese as Daxiongmao, the “large bear

cat.” In fact, its scientific name means 

“black and white cat-footed animal.”

Giant pandas are found only in the

mountains of central China—in small

isolated areas of the north and central

portions of the Sichuan Province, in the

mountains bordering the southernmost part

of Gansu Province and in the Qinling

Mountains of the Shaanxi Province.

Giant pandas live in dense bamboo and

coniferous forests at altitudes of 5,000 to

10,000 feet. The mountains are shrouded in

heavy clouds with torrential rains or dense

mist throughout the year.

Giant pandas have existed since the

Pleistocene Era (about 600,000 years ago),

when their geographic range extended

throughout southern China. Fossil remains

also have been found in present-day

Burma.

Giant pandas are bear-like in shape with

striking black and white markings. The ears,

eye patches, legs and shoulder band are

black; the rest of the body is whitish. They

have thick, woolly coats to insulate them

from the cold. Adults are four to six feet long

and may weigh up to 350 pounds—about the

same size as the American black bear.

However, unlike the black bear, giant pandas

do not hibernate and cannot walk on their

hind legs.

The giant panda has unique front paws—

one of the wrist bones is enlarged and

elongated and is used like a thumb, enabling

the giant panda to grasp stalks of bamboo.

They also have very powerful jaws and teeth

to crush bamboo. While bamboo stalks and

roots make up about 95 percent of its diet,

the giant panda also feeds on gentians,

irises, crocuses, fish, and occasionally small

rodents. It must eat 20 to 40 pounds of food

each day to survive, and spends ten to 16

hours a day feeding.

The giant panda reaches breeding maturity

between four and ten years of age. Mating

usually takes place in the spring, and 

three to five months later, one or two cubs

weighing three to five ounces each are born 

in a sheltered den. Usually only one cub

survives. The eyes open at 11⁄2 to two 

months and the cub becomes mobile at

approximately three months of age. At

twelve months the cub becomes totally

independent. While their average life span 

in the wild is about fifteen years, giant

pandas in captivity have been known to live

well into their twenties.

Scientists have debated for more than a

century whether giant pandas belong to the

bear family, the raccoon family or a

separate family of their own. This is

because the giant panda and its cousin, the

lesser or red panda, share many

characteristics with both bears and

raccoons. Recent DNA analysis indicates

that giant pandas are more closely related

to bears and red pandas are more closely

related to raccoons. Accordingly, giant

pandas are categorized in the bear family

while red pandas are categorized in the

raccoon family.

In 1869, a French missionary and naturalist

named Pere Armand David was the first

European to describe the giant panda. In

1936, clothing designer Ruth Harkness

Giant panda

Ailuropoda melanoleuca

Giant pandas are

bear-like in shape

with black ears, eye

patches, legs and

shoulder bands, and

whitish coloring on

the rest of the body.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
brought the first live giant panda, named 

Su-Lin, out of China and to the West. Su-Lin

lived at Chicago’s Brookfield Zoo and was a

celebrity until he died in 1938. Today, 124

giant pandas are found in Chinese zoos. 

Only about 20 giant pandas live in zoos

outside of China. In 1980, the first giant

panda birth outside China occurred at the

Mexico City Zoo.

Until recently, Washington, D.C.’s National

Zoo housed Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing,

perhaps the most well-known giant pandas

in North America. A gift from the People’s

Republic of China to the people of the

United States, they were presented as a

gesture of amity and goodwill to President

Richard Nixon when he visited China in

1972. Ling-Ling, at age 23, died in 

December 1992.

Giant pandas are among the rarest

mammals in the world—there are probably

fewer than 1,000 left in the wild. Although

adult giant pandas have few natural

enemies, the young are sometimes preyed

upon by leopards.

Habitat encroachment and destruction 

are the greatest threats to the continued

existence of the giant panda. This is mainly

because of the demand for land and natural

resources by China’s 1 billion inhabitants. 

To offset this situation, the Chinese

government has set aside eleven nature

preserves where bamboo flourishes and

giant pandas are known to live.

Giant pandas are also susceptible to

poaching, or illegal killing, as their dense 

fur carries a high price in illegal markets in

the Far East. The Chinese government has

imposed severe penalties for those convicted 

of poaching giant pandas.

The low reproductive capacity of the giant

panda makes it more vulnerable to these

threats and less capable of rebounding from

its low numbers.

In 1984 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

listed the giant panda as an endangered

species under the Endangered Species Act

of 1973. Endangered means a species is

considered in danger of extinction

throughout all or a significant portion of 

its range. The less dire designation of

threatened means that a species is likely 

to become endangered in the foreseeable

future. This protection also prohibits giant

pandas from being imported into the United

States except under certain conditions.

The giant panda is also protected under 

the Convention on International Trade 

in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna 

and Flora (CITES), a treaty that monitors 

and controls international trade in

endangered animal and plant species. 

The Fish and Wildlife Service is the 

federal agency responsible for the U.S.

government’s implementation of CITES.

The Service has established a panda policy

to inform the public about what is required

to qualify for giant panda importation

permits. The policy focuses on the

conservation of the species in the wild.

The giant panda has unique front paws.

One of the wrist bones is enlarged and

elongated and is used like a thumb, enabling

the panda to grasp bamboo stalks.

Fewer than 1,000 giant pandas remain in

the wild, making it one of the world’s rarest

mammals. Habitat encroachment and

destruction as well as illegal killing are the

main causes of the giant panda’s decline.

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

1 800/344 WILD

http://www.fws.gov

June 1999

Giant pandas eat 20 to 40 pounds of food

each day, mostly bamboo, and spend ten to

16 hours a day feeding.