The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca; Chinese: 大熊猫; pinyin: dàxióngmāo),[5] also known as the panda bear (or simply the panda), is a bear[6] native to South Central China.[1] It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes used to distinguish it from the red panda, a neighboring musteloid. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the giant panda is a folivore, with bamboo shoots and leaves making up more than 99% of its diet.[7] Giant pandas in the wild will occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents, or carrion. In captivity, they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared food .

The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan, but also in neighbouring Shaanxi and Gansu.[10] As a result of farming, deforestation, and other development, the giant panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived, and it is a conservation-reliant vulnerable species.[11][12] A 2007 report showed 239 pandas living in captivity inside China and another 27 outside the country.[13] As of December 2014, 49 giant pandas lived in captivity outside China, living in 18 zoos in 13 different countries.[14] Wild population estimates vary; one estimate shows that there are about 1,590 individuals living in the wild,[13] while a 2006 study via DNA analysis estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000 to 3,000.[15] Some reports also show that the number of giant pandas in the wild is on the rise.[16] In March 2015, conservation news site Mongabay stated that the wild giant panda population had increased by 268, or 16.8%, to 1,864.[17] In 2016, the IUCN reclassified the species from "endangered" to "vulnerable",[12] affirming decade-long efforts to save the panda.

While the dragon has often served as China's national symbol, internationally the giant panda has often filled this role. As such, it is becoming widely used within China in international contexts, for example, appearing since 1982 on gold panda bullion coins and as one of the five Fuwa mascots of the Beijing Olympics.

For many decades, the precise taxonomic classification of the giant panda was under debate because it shares characteristics with both bears and raccoons.[18] However, molecular studies indicate the giant panda is a true bear, part of the family Ursidae.[6][19] These studies show it diverged about 19 million years ago from the common ancestor of the Ursidae;[20] it is the most basal member of this family and equidistant from all other extant bear species.[21][20] The giant panda has been referred to as a living fossil.
The word panda was borrowed into English from French, but no conclusive explanation of the origin of the French word panda has been found.[23] The closest candidate is the Nepali word ponya, possibly referring to the adapted wrist bone of the red panda, which is native to Nepal. The Western world originally applied this name to the red panda.
The giant panda is a terrestrial animal and primarily spends its life roaming and feeding in the bamboo forests of the Qinling Mountains and in the hilly province of Sichuan.[71] Giant pandas are generally solitary.[55] Each adult has a defined territory and a female is not tolerant of other females in her range. Social encounters occur primarily during the brief breeding season in which pandas in proximity to one another will gather.[72] After mating, the male leaves the female alone to raise the cub.[73]

Pandas were thought to fall into the crepuscular category, those who are active twice a day, at dawn and dusk; however, Jindong Zhang found that pandas may belong to a category all of their own, with activity peaks in the morning, afternoon and midnight. Due to their sheer size, they can be active at any time of the day.[74] Activity is highest in June and decreases in late summer to fall with an increase from November through the following March.[75] Activity is also directly related to the amount of sunlight during colder days.[75]

Pandas communicate through vocalisation and scent marking such as clawing trees or spraying urine.[11] They are able to climb and take shelter in hollow trees or rock crevices, but do not establish permanent dens. For this reason, pandas do not hibernate, which is similar to other subtropical mammals, and will instead move to elevations with warmer temperatures.[76] Pandas rely primarily on spatial memory rather than visual memory.[77]

Though the panda is often assumed to be docile, it has been known to attack humans, presumably out of irritation rather than aggression.[78][79][80]

Pandas have been known to cover themselves in horse manure to protect themselves against cold temperatures.

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