Despite being one of the most popular of all animals, the giant panda is rare and elusive. Famous for their love of bamboo, little else is known about their behaviour in the wild, and their breeding success in captivity is poor.

Life span
25-30 years.

Statistics
Body length: 160-190cm, Weight: male: 85-125kg, female: 70-100kg.

Physical description
They are white with black eye patches and black ears, legs, feet, chest and shoulders. The fur is dense to protect the panda from the cold and damp climate in which they live. They are heavy-bodied with a large head and rounded ears.

Distribution
Giant pandas live in south western China. They have the most restricted distribution of all bears.

Habitat
They are limited to bamboo thickets in mountainous regions between altitudes of 1200 and 3500m.

Diet
Ninety nine per cent of a panda's diet is made up of 30 species of bamboo. The remaining one per cent is made up of other plants and meat. Their digestion of bamboo is very inefficient; pandas only digest about 20 per cent of the dry matter of bamboo, whereas most herbivores assimilate about 80 per cent. This means that they must eat large amounts to obtain their energy requirements. They can eat between 12 and 38kg of bamboo shoots, leaves and stems per 24 hour period.

Behaviour
They are solitary except for mothers with cubs and during the mating season. Giant pandas occupy territories of 3.9-6.4 square km (male ranges are larger than females), which is much smaller than most other bears. Male territories overlap those of females.

They are active at any time of the day or night. They mainly feed on the ground but they are also capable of climbing trees.

Reproduction
Mating takes place from March to May, and females give birth from August to September. They usually give birth to 1-2 cubs; occasionally they may give birth to three or even four cubs, but it is rare for more than one cub to survive to adulthood. They are born blind and helpless, with a thin layer of fur. The cub stays with its mother for 1.5 years.

Their reproductive success in captivity is low, and it probably also is in the wild.

Conservation status
Giant pandas are classified as Endangered by the IUCN and are listed on CITES: Appendix I. Their reliance on bamboo makes them vulnerable to habitat loss. They were once hunted for their fur, meat and body parts.