The giant panda (ailuropda melanoleuca) is a mammal belonging to the bear (Ursidae) family. Native to China, the giant panda is found both in captivity and in the wild. The giant panda is black and white in appearance and belongs to order Carnivora (meat eater). Despite this, pandas find 99 percent of their sustenance from bamboo shoots.

Besides bamboo, pandas like to munch on eggs, fish, shrubs and fruit. The panda is a bear that has been pushed out of its natural environment and become a ward of the global state. At the top of many endangered species live, giant pandas only survive because of continued human intervention. Only a few thousand pandas are known to exist.

The panda has large strong teeth and thick fur to keep it warm in its highland habitat. Their strong jaws and molars are deal for crushing bamboo shoots. Pandas are ground dwelling animals that spend most of their days roaming about looking for bamboo. Unlike other bears, pandas do not go into hibernation, they simply walk to a warmer elevation.

Pandas are solitary creatures that meet briefly with the opposite sex to mate. Female pandas rear their cubs without assistance from the males. The lack of social interaction in pandas is often credited to be a result of their low nutritional diet. Because bamboo does not provide a panda with much energy to expend they expend their energy wisely.

The giant panda has mythical fame in Asian history but was not known to western culture until 1869. The breeding and housing of giant pandas in American zoos has done much to improve diplomatic relations between east and west.