Through captive breeding programs in China and other zoos around the world, we are learning more about the care of baby pandas and how to help them reach adulthood. Hua Mei's parents, Bai Yun and Shi Shi , arrived in San Diego in 1995 on a twelve-year research loan from China. When grown, the baby panda will return to China where she will hopefully have babies of her own. Pandas in zoos are fed fruits and vegetables as well as bamboo. This panda uses its five fingers and special wrist bone to hold bamboo.
Pandas live in cold and rainy bamboo forests high in the mountains of western China.
They spend up to 16 hours each day eating bamboo. Because bamboo is low in nutrients, pandas eat as much as 84 pounds of shoots each day. Pandas grasp bamboo stalks with their five fingers and a special wrist bone, then use their teeth to peel off the tough outer layers to reveal the soft inner tissue. Strong jaw bones and cheek muscles help pandas crush and chew the thick stalks with their flattened back teeth. Giant Pandas Face Big Problems in Today's World Today, around 1,000 giant pandas survive on Earth.