Giant Panda

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Found only in China, one of the world’s most populous countries, it faces danger through habitat loss due to overpopulation where natural forests have been cleared for agriculture, timber, and wood for fuel. Some poaching of pandas still occurs but even low levels of poaching can have devastating effects on the endangered panda. A panda weighs between 185 and 245 pounds. The panda’s diet consists almost exclusively of bamboo and it will spend 14 hours a day eating. A female panda comes into season only 72 hours a year. Pandas can live for about 20 years in the wild. A female, during her lifetime, may have 5-8 babies in the wild. Shy and elusive creatures that live in thick old growth bamboo forests, they are difficult to study in the wild. The average lifespan of pandas in the wild is 10-15 years and up to 30 years in captivity. As few as 1600 pandas remain in the wild today. It is the most endangered species in the world.

Giant Panda - Fast Facts

Type: Mammal
Diet: Omnivore
Average lifespan in the wild: 10-15 years
Size: 4 to 5 ft (1.2 to 1.5 m)
Weight: 300 lbs (136 kg)
Status: ENDANGERED

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