Giant panda Facts
The giant panda is a bear species, a mammal found only in China, with a white coat, black patches and a diet made almost entirely of bamboo.
- Class
- Mammal
- Scientific name
- Ailuropoda melanoleuca
- Conservation status
- Vulnerable (IUCN)
About the giant panda
Black patches circle its eyes, ears, legs and shoulders, and an adult's round body weighs 100 to 115 kg (220 to 254 lb) and stretches 1.2 to 1.9 m long. Males run about 10 to 20% bigger than females. A thumb on each forepaw holds bamboo steady during meals, and large molars handle the tough stalks and shoots.
Wild pandas live in just six mountain regions of a few Chinese provinces, at elevations up to 3,000 m. They keep to themselves except to mate and communicate through scent marks left on rocks and trees. Mothers raise cubs for 18 to 24 months, and the oldest panda on record reached 38 years. Farming, deforestation and new roads and towns pushed them out of the lowlands, yet a national survey counted 1,864 wild pandas older than 1.5 years.
Did you know?
- Other names for the giant panda include the panda bear and, most simply, the panda.
- Scientists know the giant panda by the formal name Ailuropoda melanoleuca.
- Chinese authorities classified the giant panda as vulnerable in July 2021.
Questions about the giant panda
What do giant pandas eat?
Bamboo and bamboo shoots make up nearly all of a giant panda's diet, though it can also digest starch.
Is the giant panda endangered?
It is listed as Vulnerable, not Endangered, on the IUCN Red List, a status it has held since 2016.
Sources
- Wikidata Q33602, checked October 8, 2026
- Wikipedia: Giant panda, checked October 8, 2026
Facts are compiled from these open sources and rewritten in our own words. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.