The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca; Chinese: 大熊猫; pinyin: dàxióngmāo), also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear native to South Central China. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes used to distinguish it from the red panda, a neighboring musteloid. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the giant panda is a folivore, with bamboo shoots and leaves making up more than 99% of its diet. Giant pandas in the wild will occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents, or carrion. In captivity, they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared food.
Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests of southwest China.
Pandas subsist almost entirely on bamboo, eating from 26 to 84 pounds per day.
Giant pandas have a distinctive black and white coat, with black fur around their eyes and on their ears, muzzle, legs and shoulders. Their thick, wooly coat helps to keep them warm in their cool mountain homes.
