By Mohamad Alameddine & Nadine Karime

The body shape of the Giant Panda is very similar to other bears in appearance. The main difference is their color. They are black and white in color. Giant Panda's have black ears, legs, and black patches over their eyes and then black across their shoulders. Their fur is thick and has a oily coating that helps protect the Giant Panda from the cold wet weather. These large bears can be as tall as 6 feet high and weigh as much as 300 pounds. Their feet have short claws that enable the Giant Panda to climb trees easily. Their size makes them move slowly on land, but they are wonderful swimmers and tree climbers.

The Giant Panda can be found in the bamboo forests of China and also within zoo's. It is believed that less than one thousand Giant Panda's are living in their natural habitat, making them an endangered species.
 
 

The Giant Pandas eat Bamboo. They consume as much as 90 pounds of fresh Bamboo a day. There are many different types of Bamboo that they feast on. The Panda has to feed for 12 hours to keep its strength. They are unable to hibernate because they are unable to store enough fat to do so.

Giant Panda cubs are pink and tiny, weighing about the same as a small apple. They do not get their black markings until they are at least a month old. Mother Panda's carry the baby Panda's, called cubs, within their mouth when they go out. The mother does this to keep the cub from crying and attracting predators. The young Panda's begin to move about more when they reach 6 weeks of age. The mother Panda carries the cub with one paw, walking on only three legs until the cub is around 5 months old, this is when the cub begins walking with its mother. Panda cubs begin eating bamboo when they are 6 months old, and by one year of age are consuming large amounts of bamboo.

She weighs over 7 pounds and                            She weighs 16 pounds and is 2 feet.
is 22 inches long.

Pandas’ diet:

The Giant Panda needs large amounts of bamboo to survive in the wild. The clearing of bamboo covered land to make way for human civilization places the Giant Panda at risk. Until there is enough bamboo covered land for Pandas to thrive they will continue to diminish in numbers.
 
 

Giant Pandas are an endangered species. There are only between 600 - 1000 in the wild. There are also about 60 in zoos around the world. Low reproductive rates, high infant mortality rates, poaching and human settlement in the Panda’s territory is the primary causes of its low numbers.

End notes about Pandas:

1. Pandas are first mentioned in Chinese books written 2,500 years ago, but they weren't seen by a European until 1869. In 1936, Su-Lin at the Chicago Zoo was the first living panda to be brought out of China.

1. The panda's full name is Giant Panda. Their scientific name is Ailuropoda Melanoleuca.

1. Pandas are related to bears, but they are classified in their own group.

1. There used to be some confusion about how to classify pandas because they have some features in common with a completely different animal called a Red Panda (also called a Lesser Panda) which is related to the racoons.

1. Red pandas were discovered by Europeans 48 years before the Giant panda. The word "panda" comes from the Nepalese name for the red panda, nigalya ponya, which means "bamboo eater."

1. Pandas have the digestive system of a carnivore (meat eater), but they eat a mostly vegetarian diet.

1. Pandas' primary food is bamboo, but since their digestive systems can absorb only a little of the nutrition, they have to eat over 30 pounds a day.

1. Pandas like the taste of young bamboo sprouts which have even less nutrition. If they eat only these, they must eat over 80 pounds a day.

1. Pandas spend 16-24 hours a day eating and the remainder resting.

1. Pandas eat sitting up and have a sixth finger on their front paws that they use as a thumb for holding food.

1. Pandas make a sound like a sheep bleating, but they can make 11 different sounds for different situations.

1. The purpose of the pandas' black eye patches may be to make their eyes look bigger and scarier to other animals.

1. Pandas' fur is slightly oily to make it waterproof.

1. Each panda lives alone. Male and female pandas get together only for mating and then separate after a day or two.

1. Pandas keep track of other pandas by scent marking trees.

1. If a female panda gives birth to two babies, she is able to take care of only one of them.

1. Adult pandas are 5-6 feet long and weigh 165-242 pounds.

1. Pandas live for about thirty years in captivity. Their only natural enemies are humans.

1. Pandas are very endangered because of the destruction of their environment and hunting by poachers for their fur.

1. There are fewer than 1000 pandas left in the world - only 16 of these are outside China.

Mothers with their babies

The female giant panda gives birth once a year to one or two cubs. Panda cubs are extremely tiny, weighing only about 5 ounces (140 grams) at birth. The mother, who normally spends about 12 hours per day feeding, stays with the newborn cub for up to 10 days without feeding. Cubs normally nurse for about a year and may remain with the mother for more than two years.

Animal Planet-Panda
http://animal.discovery.com/panda/panda.html

National Zoo: Giant Panda House
http://natzoo.si.edu/zooview/exhibits/panda/panda.htm

FEDEX: Pandas
http://www.fedex.com/cgi-bin/pandas_index.cgi

Animal Diversity Web: Giant Panda
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/ailuropoda/a._melanoleuca$narrative.
html

Everything You Need to Know About the Giant Panda
http://www.giantpandabear.com/index.html

Zoo Atlanta
http://www.zooatlanta.org/

San Diego Zoo: Panda Central
http://www.sandiegozoo.org/special/pandas/

The Panda Online
http://www.ukfuture.co.uk/the-panda/info.html

The Bear Den: Giant Pandas
http://www.nature-net.com/bears/panda.html

World Wildlife Fund: Giant Pandas
http://www.panda.org/resources/factsheets/species/fct_panda.htm

Panda Bonanza
http://www.discovery.com/news/features/pandas/pandas.html

Pandas in the News
http://www.discovery.com/news/news.html