Giant panda

The **giant panda**, *Ailuropoda melanoleuca*, is a bear. It lives in south central China. Pandas in the wild occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents or carrion. In captivity, they may get honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared food.

The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan province, but also in the Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.
As a result of farming, deforestation and other development, the panda has been forced out of the lowland areas where it once lived.

## Appearance
Giant pandas are bears. They have black and white fur all around them. The black fur is on their ears, around their eyes, on their legs, and on their shoulders.

Giant pandas are approximately the size of an American black bear, standing at about 3 feet (91 cm) tall at the shoulder when on all four legs. They measure around 7 feet (210 cm) in length. In the wild, males can weigh up to 251 pounds (114 kg), while females typically weigh less, generally staying below 220 pounds (100 kg).  In zoos, giant pandas eat bamboo, sugar cane, vegetables, and fruit.

## Baby pandas 
Giant pandas are ready to have babies (cubs) when they are between the ages of four and eight. They may be able to have babies until about age 20. Female pandas are ready to have a baby only once a year in the springtime. There are only two or three days during which a baby panda can form in the mother's belly. Calls and scents bring the males and female pandas to each other.

Female pandas may give birth to two young. Usually only one lives. Giant panda cubs may stay with their mothers for up to three years. Then, they leave her for a life of their own.

## Giant pandas and their "pseudo-thumbs" 
There has been discovery that giant pandas have "pseudo-thumbs" which is their modified wrist bone that acts like a thumb, allowing them to grip the bamboo quicker and easier.

## Giant pandas and people 
Today, the giant panda is a symbol for China. It is protected by the Chinese government. Killing a giant panda is a crime. The giant panda may become extinct or die out if the forests of bamboo continue to disappear.

People outside of eastern Asia did not know about the giant panda until 1869. The first „Westerner“ to see a live panda was a German zoologist in 1916. In 1936, Ruth Harkness became the first Westerner to bring a live giant panda out of China. It was a cub (baby panda) named Su-Lin. The cub was taken to live at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.

In the 1970s, China began showing giant pandas in zoos in the United States and Japan as a type of diplomacy. This happened until 1984 when China changed how this was done. Starting in 1984, China would allow zoos to keep the giant pandas for 10 years, but the zoo would have to pay China up to $1,000,000 each year. Also, the zoo would have to agree that any cubs born would belong to China.

### Zoos
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13 cities outside China currently have zoos with giant pandas.

#### North America 
* Mexico City, Mexico
* Toronto, Ontario, Canada

In addition, the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., United States, the San Diego Zoo in San Diego, California, United States, the Memphis Zoo in Memphis, Tennessee, United States and the Zoo Atlanta in Atlanta, Georgia, United States once hosted giant pandas, but their pandas have since been returned to China.
* Vienna, Austria
* Madrid, Spain
* Edinburgh, Scotland
* Rhenen, The Netherlands

#### Asia 
* Chiang Mai, Thailand
* Tokyo, Japan
* Kobe, Hyōgo, Japan
* Shirahama, Wakayama, Japan 
* Seoul, South Korea 
* Singapore Zoo
The Adelaide Zoo in Adelaide, Australia received two giant pandas in 2009.

## Endangered animal 
The giant panda is an endangered species. It may become extinct. In 2013, it was estimated that there were less than 2,500 mature giant pandas living in the wild. Illegal hunting is no longer a problem. Hunting for pandas is a crime. The penalties are harsh if you hunt pandas.
* Pandas International  
* Wolong Panda Club