Giant panda

Ailuropoda melanoleuca · The giant panda is a black-and-white bear that lives in the mountain forests of China, mainly in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu.

Also called Panda, Panda bear, Parti-colored bear.

Giant panda
Photo: Gzen92, CC BY-SA 4.0
Giant panda
Photo: Melina Kolburn, CC BY-SA 4.0
Giant panda
Photo: Ashley98lee, CC BY 4.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassMammalia
OrderCarnivora
FamilyUrsidae
GenusAiluropoda
SpeciesAiluropoda melanoleuca

Where it lives

Cool, misty mountain forests of central China (Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu).

Fun facts

  • A panda's "thumb" is really a modified wrist bone that helps it hold bamboo while it eats.
  • A newborn panda is pink, blind and toothless, and is proportionally the smallest baby of any placental mammal.
  • Pandas eat 9 to 14 kg of bamboo shoots a day, and they poop up to 40 times a day!
  • Pandas have been known to cover themselves in horse manure to protect themselves against cold temperatures.

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).