I love the giant panda - they look like a teddy bear
They're so cute, they're actually technically carnivores, but usually they eat 99% of their diet as bamboo!
I had no idea they were carnivores.  I only knew of bamboo
I guess we only see them eating bamboo, but in the wild they eat meat in the form of birds, rodents, or carrion.
That is interesting!  Are they endangered?
Yes they are considered a conservation reliant vulnerable species to be exact.
Yes I know they have a difficult time breedingin zoos
That must be why the numbers are so low, in 2007 there were only 239 pandas living in captivity inside China, that's not very many at all.
No and there are not many living elsewhere.   Their habitat is endangered
has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived.
The giant panda is a conservation-reliant vulnerable species. A 2007 report showed 239 pandas living in captivity inside China and another 27 outside the country. As of December 2014, 49 giant pandas lived in captivity outside China, living in 18 zoos in 13 different countries. Wild population estimates vary; one estimate shows that there are about 1,590 individuals living in the wild, while a 2006 study via DNA analysis estimated that this figure could be as high
is the most basal member of the group, it is equidistant from all other extant ursids. The giant panda has been referred to as a living fossil.
Despite the shared name, habitat type, and diet, as well as a unique enlarged bone called the "pseudo thumb" (which helps them grip the bamboo shoots they eat) the giant panda and red panda are only distantly related.
Taxonomy Etymology.
The word "panda" was borrowed into English from French, but no conclusive explanation of the origin