Pandas, also known as giant pandas, are large, gentle bears native to the mountain forests of central China. They are easily recognized by their distinctive black-and-white coloring and are best known for their diet, which consists mostly of bamboo. Despite being classified as carnivores, pandas have adapted to a mostly herbivorous lifestyle. They are solitary animals and spend much of their day eating and resting. Pandas are considered a national treasure in China and a symbol of wildlife conservation worldwide, especially due to past threats to their habitat and population.
The low nutrition quality of bamboo means pandas need to eat more frequently, and due to their lack of major predators they can be active at any time of the day. Activity is highest in June and decreases in late summer to autumn with an increase from November through the following March. Activity is also directly related to the amount of sunlight during colder days. Solar radiation has a stronger positive effect on panda activity levels.
Pandas may belong to a category all of their own, with activity peaks in the morning, afternoon, and midnight. They are primarily terrestrial animals that roam and feed in the bamboo forests of the Qinling Mountains and the Sichuan province. They are solitary creatures with defined territories, and social encounters mainly occur during the short breeding season. After mating, the male leaves and the female raises the cub alone.
The giant panda is endemic to China. It is found in small, fragmented populations in six mountainous regions, mainly in Sichuan, but also in Shaanxi and Gansu. Successful habitat preservation has led to increased panda populations, though habitat loss due to human activity remains the primary threat. Pandas avoid areas with a high concentration of other large mammals such as domestic cattle, which degrade the landscape and create competition.
In 2020, the population of the new national park surpassed 1,800 pandas — about 80% of China's total panda population. This park not only protects pandas but also helps other species like the Siberian tiger, snow leopard, golden snub-nosed monkey, red panda, and complex-toothed flying squirrel.
In 2021, China announced pandas are no longer endangered in the wild due to successful conservation. Previously, in 2006, DNA analysis of droppings revealed that earlier estimates of 1,000 pandas were low — the population could be closer to 3,000. That same year, China had expanded its panda reserves from 13 in 1998 to 40. Despite being reclassified as "vulnerable" in 2016, conservation efforts continue at full strength.