by Betty

Physical Description

Giant pandas are white and black all over. When a giant panda is

a baby it is only the size of a butter stick. A giant panda has unusually

heavy and thick bones for their size. Giant pandas are very flexible

and like to do summersaults.The height of a giant panda is

about 5 feet long.  A giant panda's weight is 220 to 330 pounds. 

It's live span is 14 to 20 years in the wild and up to 30 in managed care

in zoo.

Habitat

A giant pandas habitat is damp, and misty forests of bamboo.

Bamboo is a food and shelter for a giant panda. Giant pandas live

in rainy forests high in the mountains of western China. Giant pandas are only found in China. Other animals also share the land like bear,

tiger-cat, lynxes, leopards, monkeys, Asian wild dogs, Deer, and many different birds. Giant pandas live in high mountains near the Province of Szechwan, China . They hide in bamboo trees. Pandas

are shy and rarely leave their homes because food, bamboo, is unusually plentiful.  They sleep in bamboo too. Their homeland is always cold and wet.  Snow stays on the ground from October to May.  A picture of a Giant Panda is found on the back of Chinese gold coins.

Eating Habits

A giant panda is a meat eater and also plant eater. It could not live without bamboo. Giant pandas are too slow to hunt, which is why they mostly eat bamboo. It also eats small animals if available, and it sits up while it eats. Sometimes it rolls while eating bamboo leaves. They spend 12 hours eating bamboo each day . A giant panda eats as much as 84 pounds of bamboo every day. When they are kept in a zoo, it also eats other things like apples, carrots, cooked rice, cooked sweet potatoes, vitamins, and milk bone.

Communication

When a giant panda meets other animal,s it makes noises like a squeal, a chirp, and a yip. Giant pandas mark their territories. Giant pandas  make scent markings by using a scent gland under a giant panda's tail.

Giant panda markings are  more likely to be made during breeding

and mating seasons.