Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) Fact Sheet: Summary

Kingdon: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Ursidae

Genus: Ailuropoda

Species: Ailuropoda melanoleuca

Body Length: 120–180 cm (47–71 in)

Tail Length: 10–15 cm (4–6 in)

Weight: males: 85–125 kg, or 150–200 lb) (but up to 150 kg, or 330 lb, in managed care); females: 70–100 kg (150–200 lb)

Coloration and fur: Coarse guard hairs repel water; thick and woolly undercoat provides warmth. Commonly, black-and-white pattern (but more brownish fur patches in at least one subpopulation). Contrasting colors provides camouflage for blending in with shadows and snow.

Range: 6 remote mountain ranges in China (Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu Provinces)

Habitat: forests with adequate bamboo understory; prefer old-growth forests; shelter in tree hollows, rock crevices, and caves

IUCN Status
Vulnerable (2016 assessment)

CITES Appendix
Appendix I

Population Estimates: approximately 1,040 adults; approximately 1,800-2,060 individuals total

Locomotion: Can walk over rough terrain and through bamboo easily. Gait described as “rolling,” “ambling,” or “waddling." Rarely run but will dash off if startled. Infrequently climb trees as adults, but young pandas (between 4 and 14 months old) commonly stay in a tree while mother forages.

Activity Cycle: Active day and night. Most activity involves resting/sleeping, foraging, and eating.

Social Behavior: Generally solitary, except during breeding or raising cubs (females). Socialize "at a distance" through odors/smell.

Communication: Scent mark trees, rocks, logs, stumps, etc. using gland secretions and urine. Strip bark; leave claw marks on trees; signal each other with body postures. Range of breeding and nonbreeding vocalizations, such as bleats, chirps, snorts, huffs. Tactile communication most common during breeding (adults) or between a mother and cub.

Diet: Over 98% of diet is bamboo. Spend most of their wakeful hours foraging. Well known for their ability to hold, strip, and chew large amounts of bamboo quickly. Eating a lot of bamboo offsets a diet that is not nutritionally dense. Sophisticated foraging strategy that helps giant pandas to find and eat food highest nutritional value throughout the year.

Sexual Maturity: similar for both sexes; about 4 to 6 years in managed care, but as late as 7 to 8 years in wild populations

Gestation: on average, about 140 to 150 days (but can be highly variable due to delayed embryo implantation)

Litter Size: usually 1 cub raised by mothers of wild populations

Birth Weight: About 112 g (range: about 75 to 150 g) (giant panda newborns particularly small, even compared to other bear species, but rapidly gain weight)

Feature Facts:

• Unique, thumb-like digit for manipulating and eating bamboo
• Skull features and jaw muscles exceptionally adapted for chewing bamboo
• Do not hibernate, unlike other bears
• Use distinct winter and summer habitat areas, moving seasonally to find food and preferred temperatures
• Apart from breeding periods, communicate with one another frequently but without close contact (usually through odors/smell)
• Males sometimes adopt a “headstand” position to place scent marks high up to show competitive ability
• At birth, cubs most underdeveloped of all bear species
• Mother pandas den in tree hollows and rock caves for several months after cub is born
• Giant pandas recognized and adored around the world today, but not prominent in ancient Chinese cultural works
• Well protected from hunting/poaching by government of China
• Conservation of giant pandas protects many other species of plants and animals living in China's forests
• 1987-1988: 2 pandas loaned to San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance for 200 days; visited by more than 2 million guests
• 1999: Bai Yun gave birth to Hua Mei at the San Diego Zoo
• 2021: China establishes Giant Panda National Park (unites 60+ existing panda reserves)
• 2024: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance welcomed Yun Chuan and Xin Bao
• San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has a decades-long conservation partnership with leading conservation institutions in China, working together to protect giant pandas and the bamboo forests they depend on