Pandas
Photo in the public domain via Wikimedia Commons
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A panda is a bear. They seem pretty quiet, but pandas can roar and growl.
By Manyman. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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A panda eats a plant called bamboo.
Pandas spend at least 12 hours each day eating bamboo. Pandas are not greedy; they must eat lots of bamboo to give them enough energy. |
Photo from Pixabay is in the public domain.
They hold bamboo stalks with their five fingers and a special wristbone. Their wristbone looks a bit like a thumb. They use their teeth to peel off the hard outer layers of the stalk. Then they can eat the soft inner tissue.
Photo from Pixabay is in the public domain.
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They also eat the leaves.
A young panda is called a cub.
Panda cubs like to climb!
By Johann Balleis. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
When pandas are born, they are tiny, hairless and helpless.
This panda baby was born in a zoo. It is about 10 days old and has started to grow hair.
The panda mum gives good care to her tiny cub. She holds it in her paw close to her chest. For several days after birth, the mum does not leave her den, not even to eat or drink!
50 years ago just 3 out of every 10 panda cubs born in zoos survived. Today 9 out of every 10 cubs survive. One reason for this success is that we have discovered baby cubs need help to poo. If they don't poo, they will die.
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Pandas live in forests in China.
China is the country in dark green on the map.