About the Giant Panda:

There are less than 1,600 mature giant pandas in the wild today. They live mostly in southwest China and to the east of the Tibetan Plateau. The giant panda is a beautiful animal and it is basically the most awesome bear ever! They can reach up to 150 cm for adults and 100-150 kg. It is an endangered species, which is sad, but we can help! Raise giant panda awareness! The giant panda is black-and-white just like most pandas. It has black fur on ears, eyes, nose, legs, and shoulders. The rest of the animal's fur coat is a pretty white. Apparently, their coloring serves one of two purposes. Either it is so they stand out and they can find each other to mate in the wild, or it's for camouflage and they blend in so that people, or whatever predators they may have, can't find them. They have a nice, thick coat for the cool environment and large molar teeth and a strong jaw muscle for crushing the bamboo stalks. Pandas spend at least 12 hours a day eating bamboo. Even though pandas look super cute and fluffy, they can be pretty dangerous, just like any other bear. Curiously, baby panda bears are all white. That is super cute. I really want a panda. A cub's eyes open at around 50 to 60 days after birth and by 10 weeks the cub begins to crawl. Its teeth grow in by the time it's 14 weeks old. The mother and cub spend much less time using their den. By 21 weeks, the cub is able to walk pretty well and, at this time, the cub starts to play with its mother and at 7 to 9 months it starts attempting to eat bamboo. The cub continues to nurse until about 18 months of age, at which time, the mother is ready to send the cub off on its own so she can prepare for her next cub. Unfortunately, many young pandas do not reach adulthood and many programs around China to help discover ways to help the amazing creatures reach maturity.