A giant panda is a bear. A giant panda that has grown up is about 4 to 6 feet long. It is about as big as an American black bear.

Its ears, legs and shoulders are black. It has black patches around its eyes. The rest of its body is white.

It lives in the mountains of China. The woods there are wet and misty.

Its coat is thick. It keeps a panda warm in the cool woods.

A giant panda eats almost nothing but bamboo. It eats at least 20 pounds of food a day. Each day it spends 10 to 16 hours on food.

The bamboo is hard. Strong jaws and flat back teeth crush it.

Most of the time, a giant panda lives alone. It can swim, too.

At birth a cub is tiny. It weighs only about 3 to 5 ounces.

A giant panda can climb trees. Male giant pandas sometimes do handstands against trees.

Words to know

• bamboo: tall grass stalk
• jaws: mouth bones
• misty: full of fog
• handstands: upside-down stands