The Giant Panda is one of the rarest animals in the world. It is a species or kind, of bear and is found only in China. They are solitary animals, living alone in the forests.

Appearance
They are black and white animals with round heads, small black ears and white faces. They have black patches around each eye. They have short tails. They walk on all fours and can climb trees, often doing so to find a place to sleep. An adult Giant Panda is about 150 centimetres long and weighs about 90 kilograms, although the biggest one ever weighed was 180 kilograms.

Habitat
Giant Pandas live in bamboo forests in the mountains of western China. The forests are very thick and the pandas are generally hidden from view, so it has been hard for scientists to learn about them. This lack of knowledge has added to the difficulty of saving these animals. Once pandas were widespread throughout China, but the bamboo forests in eastern China have been cut down for farming. This has made the forest areas into 'islands', making it impossible for the bears to roam widely and meet each other to mate.

Feeding
About 99% of the Giant Panda's food is bamboo, though it also eats grass, roots, plants and even meat. Bamboo is actually a type of grass that grows as tall as trees. Although there are hundreds of kinds of bamboo, the Giant Panda eats only 4 or 5 kinds. It is estimated that a Giant Panda can chew more than 3,500 stalks of bamboo a day. Bamboo is not very nutritious, so the Giant Panda spends about 12 hours a day feeding.
The front paws of the Giant Panda are specially adapted to help it hold bamboo. There is a bone on each palm which looks a little like a thumb. The panda's five fingers are wrapped around the bamboo stalk, and the 'thumb' moves forward to jam against the bamboo so that it is firmly held. The Giant Panda also has very large teeth, strong jaws and huge cheek muscles to help it crush the hard bamboo.