Photo by Wikipedia

Giant Pandas, Ailuropoda melanoleuca means “Cat foot black- and white. Male Pandas can weight as much as 330 pounds while the females are smaller around 275 pounds.  The Giant Panda is native to central-western and southwestern China. The characteristics of this huge bear are specific patches around the eyes, over the ears and across it round body. The black,  in contrast to the white,  stand out with the black on the muzzle, legs and shoulders too.

The Giant Panda belongs to the carnivore order, however depends on a bamboo diet for 99% of their food intake. The paw has a thumb and five fingers making it easy to hold the bamboo while eating. It is common for the Panda go eat honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges and bananas as well. 

Giant Panda are endangered even though 2000 to 3000 live in the wild. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has not removed them from this status since confirmation cannot be definitely stated. China has over 200 Giant Pandas in captivity supplying all the needs of these delightfully looking animals.

This species of bear does not hibernate, but instead move to higher elevations during warmer temperatures.  Their ravenous appetite requires them to consume as much as 30 pounds of bamboo shoots a day.  Since this diet is primarily low in nutrition, the Giant Panda leads a relatively sedentary life.  The bamboo leaves contain the highest level of protein while the stems have less.  With this in mind, it is important to adequately sustain the life of the Giant Panda with two species of bamboo to avoid starvation.  The life expectancy of this large bear is between 25 and 30 years in captivity.

Giant Pandas are able to climb taking shelter in hollow trees or rock caves, but mostly roaming and feeding in the bamboo forests. The female is quite territorial not allowing other females to come in close range of her designated area.

Birth weight of a Giant Panda is 4 to 8 ounces with a length of 6 to 7 inches long. Gestation is 95 to 160 days which can produce one or two cubs. Since these newborns are completely helpless, the mother abandons one to attend to the constant needs of the other. Veterinarians have devised a sharing system to use their skill and the Giant Panda’s to care for the two now with moderate success.

Special permission has been given to Atlanta, San Diego, National and Memphis to keep the panda bears in these zoos.

 Poaching of these Giant Pandas can carry with them a life sentence, however history of this has proved to be considerably less for those convicted of the crime of illegally killing them.