Giant panda
The giant panda is a firm favourite when we are talking about cute animals, but there is much more to these bears than meets their black-patched eyes.
There is much more to these bears than meets their black-patched eyes
Despite its name the giant panda is unrelated to the red panda. It is the rarest of the 8 species of bear, living in only a few mountain ranges in central China.
The giant panda is well known for its vegetarianism – but don’t be fooled, despite choosing bamboo 99% of the time wild pandas are still carnivores and have been known to eat meat.
Cute factor – Big baby-like head
A giant panda can put away up to 18kg of bamboo each day, and the calories are so low that it has to eat almost constantly. This bamboo chewing workout has given it a jaw packed with muscle and dense bone, which when covered with fur gives it those much loved teddy bear looks. But don’t snuggle down for cuddles just yet; this cutey has a stronger bite than a polar bear.
Bao Bao the baby panda
The giant panda is highly endangered, with only around 1000 left in the wild.
