New Giant Panda Stats
- xx giant pandas in the wild
- 67 nature reserves protect xx% of the panda population
- xx% of pandas live outside protected areas
- The protected areas that pandas live in amount to xx million sq km
Habitat
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Pandas used to live in most lowland forests of eastern and southern China, northern Vietnam and northern Burma.
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Pandas now live in remote, biologically rich forests in 6 mountain ranges in south-western China: Minshan, Qinling, Qionglai, Liangshan, Daxiangling and Xiaoxiangling.
Diet
Bamboo makes up 99% of a panda’s diet. Pandas eat HUGE amounts of bamboo – as much as 38kg a day. This requires them to eat for up to 14 hours a day. Bamboo is evergreen and pandas can live on it through the winter months. So unlike other bears they don’t hibernate.
Life Cycle
- Female pandas are fertile for only a few days a year between March and May.
- They may mate with several males.
- They give birth 83-184 days later.
- Cubs weigh 80-200g.
- A panda spends its 1st month being nursed by its mother in her den.
- At 18 months, the young panda is left to fend for itself as winter approaches.
Vital Stats
- Height at shoulder: 65-75cm
- Adults weigh between 80-150kg
- Males are about 10% heavier than females
Neighbours
Other wildlife that share their habitat include rare and endangered species such as the golden monkey, takin (a goat- antelope) and the red panda.
Threats
Deforestation, poaching and over-collection of non-timber forest products.
More recent threats include:
- overexploitation of resources
- large-scale infrastructure such as road construction, dams and hydropower
- mining
- mass tourism
