Giant Panda

Giant Panda
image:panda-thumbnail.jpg Hua Mei,baby panda born atSan Diego Zoo2000. Picture taken summer 2001. full size image
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Carnivora Family: Ursidae Genus: Ailuropoda Species: melanoleuca
Binomial name
Ailuropoda melanoleuca

The Giant Panda (熊貓 pinyin xiong2 mao1), Ailuropoda melanoleuca ("black-and-white cat-foot"), ismammal usually classified inbear family, Ursidae nativecentral China. The Giant Panda livesmountainous regions, like SichuanTibet.

Its Chinese name means "bear-cat,"can also be readreversemeansame thing. Its Western epithetnamed afterRed Panda.

Despite being taxonomicallycarnivore, its dietoverwhelmingly vegetarian. In fact,lives almost entirely on bamboo, although, like most animals, pandas have been knowneat eggs,they consume some insects alongtheir bamboo diet.

Italso distantly related toRed Panda, butshared name appearsderive from their common bamboo diet. Until its relationRed Panda was discovered1901,Giant Panda was known as parti-coloured bear.

The precise taxonomic classification ofpandastill under debate;may be more closely relatedraccoons thanbears.

Pandasan endangered species, threatened by continued losstheir habitatbylow birthrate, both inwildin captivity. Only aboutthousandbelievedsurvive inwild. The panda issymbol ofWorld Wildlife Fund,conservation organization (http://www.wwf.org).

The panda has an unusual paw, with"thumb"five fingers;"thumb"actuallymodified wrist-bone. (Stephen Jay Gould wrote an essay about this, then usedtitle The Panda's Thumb forbookcollected essays.)

It was first made known toWest1869 byFrench missionary Armand David (1826-1900). The Giant Panda hasbeenfavourite ofpublic, at least partly on account offact thatspecies has an appealing baby-like appearance that makesseemresembleliving teddy bear. The fact that itusually depicted reclining peacefully eating bamboo, as opposedhunting, also addsits imageinnocence.