What does a giant panda eat? Bamboo, nearly all of it. Giant pandas are bears with black-and-white fur. About 99 percent of its diet is bamboo. Bamboo does not give much nourishment, so the bear must eat a great deal of it. It usually sits upright to eat, which leaves its front paws free to hold the bamboo. It grips the bamboo with an enlarged wrist bone that works like a thumb. Strong jaws and flat back teeth crush the tough stalks. It spends 10 to 16 hours of every day finding and eating food.
Now look at the whole animal, from its ears all the way down to its feet. A giant panda has black ears, black patches around its eyes, black legs and shoulders, and a white body. Adults are about 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 1.8 meters) long. Scientists are not sure why giant pandas are black and white. In Chinese, the giant panda's name means "large bear cat," and it is also called the bamboo bear.
A panda's life starts small. A newborn giant panda cub is about the size of a stick of butter. It weighs only about 3 to 5 ounces. It is blind and helpless. A cub opens its eyes when it is about 6 to 8 weeks old. It cannot move around on its own until it is about three months old. A mother giant panda may have two cubs, but usually only one survives. A cub drinks its mother's milk for most of its first year.
Where and how do giant pandas live? Wild giant pandas live in the mountains of China. They live in only three provinces: Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu. Their forests lie between about 5,000 and 10,000 feet above sea level. A thick, woolly coat keeps a giant panda warm in its cool mountain forests. They have lived in the bamboo forests of China for several million years. They usually live alone. They do not hibernate.
Giant pandas once lived in lowland areas, but farming and development now confine them to the mountains. Cutting down forests has split their habitat into small, separated pieces. In 2016 the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) moved the giant panda from Endangered to Vulnerable. As of November 2026, the IUCN Red List lists the giant panda as Vulnerable, not Endangered. By 2016, China had set up 67 reserves to protect them.
Words to know
- nourishment: food's goodness
- upright: straight up
- hibernate: sleep through winter
- provinces: regions of China
- Vulnerable: at risk
