An Asiatic mammal (Ailurus fulgens) having fine soft fur. It is related to the bears, and inhabits the mountains of Northern India.
Giant or great panda, rare black and white bearlike Tibetan animal; lesser or red panda, raccoonlike animal of Himalayas.
One of two carnivores of different families, native to NW China and Tibet. The giant panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca has black-and-white fur with black eye patches and feeds mainly on bamboo shoots, consuming about 8 kg/17.5 lb of bamboo per day. It can grow up to 1.5 m/4.5 ft long, and weigh up to 140 kg/300 lb. It is an endangered species. The lesser, or red, panda Ailurus fulgens, of the raccoon family, is about 50 cm/1.5 ft long, and is black and chestnut, with a long tail.
Pandas' bamboo diet is of low nutritional value, being about 90% water. This makes it impossible for them to hibernate, since although they spend about 12 hours of every day eating, they cannot accumulate the necessary reserves of fat.
Destruction of the giant pandas' natural habitats threatens to make them extinct in the wild, and they are the focus of conservation efforts. There is dispute about whether they should be included in the bear family or the raccoon family, or classified as a family of their own.