Information about The Giant Panda.
Giant pandas are bears that are native to China, where they are considered a national treasure. Even with this exalted status, giant pandas are endangered: only about 1,600 live in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). About 100 live in zoos around the world. Giant pandas live up to their name. They are 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 meters) tall and weigh up to 300 lbs. (136 kilograms). A giant panda's appetite for bamboo is insatiable. They eat bamboo 12 hours a day. That adds up to 28 lbs. (12.5 kg) of bamboo each day.The giant panda's stomach is ideal for digesting bamboo. The walls of the stomach are extra-muscular to digest the wood of the bamboo. Giant pandas are loners. They dislike being around other pandas so much that they have a heightened sense of smell that lets them know when another panda is nearby so it can be avoided. On average, a giant panda's territory is about 1.9 square miles (5 square kilometers). To mark their territory, giant pandas secrete a waxy scent marker that they rub on their territory. Other giant pandas can tell the sex, age, reproductive condition, social status and more from the scent marker, according to the San Diego Zoo. Giant pandas mate in the spring. After mating, the female will be pregnant for 100 to 180 days. Then, she will give birth to one or two cubs. Cubs weigh only 3 to 5 ounces (85 to 142 grams) when they are born. Giant pandas are indeed bears. For many years, scientists had wondered whether pandas were a type of bear, raccoon or something else. However, studies of panda DNA have confirmed the panda's relationship with bears. Giant pandas will climb 13,000 feet (3,962 m) up the mountains of their home area to feed on higher slopes in the summer. - http://www.livescience.com/27335-giant-pandas.html