Panda

Giant Pandas, or Ailuropoda melanoleuca, is a very well known animal. They are about four feet tall and are 220 - 330 pounds, though a newborn is only the size of a stick of butter. They eat more than 60 different types of bamboo, but the panda’s favorite is bamboo shoots. They also eat fruit and other plants, but they mainly just eat bamboo. Bamboo is an extremely tough grass, and pandas have 42 special teeth to help them chew it. Pandas live in southwestern China. They are very susceptible to diseases. Pandas are very good climbers, and sometimes use their amazing balance to perform acrobatic tricks. Though they mostly use scent to communicate, they sometimes use sounds. Pandas love to play, especially in water.

One reason pandas are endangered is habitat loss. People clear out the panda’s habitat to build buildings or farms, and without their habitat and supply of bamboo, pandas can’t survive. This deforestation also isolates pandas, for example leaving a panda trapped in one small forest. This can make it hard for pandas to find mates. Poaching used to be a big problem for pandas, but since the Wildlife Protection Act, pandas need to worry about poaching less. However, pandas sometimes accidentally get caught in traps meant for other animals. Giant Pandas used to live all over China, but now their living area is much smaller. There are now about 1,800 pandas living in the wild, and 300 living in captivity.