Information About Giant Pandas & Cubs

Giant pandas are easily identified by their distinctive black and white faces. The pandas usually grow to be between 2.5 and 3 feet in height and between 180 and 250 lbs. in weight. These types of pandas, which are native to China, usually live in forests with their young. Although zoos and conservation centers around the world have been breeding giant pandas, they have become endangered. Only about 1,600 pandas live in their natural environments, according to the San Diego Zoo.

  1. Behavior

    • Adult pandas spend most of their time alone because they are solitary animals. When baby pandas play together, one panda often dominates the other. Playing together allows baby pandas to learn behaviors that they will utilize as adults, such as how to display dominance, according to Animal Planet. Pandas make bleating or chirping noises when they interact with each other. Climbing and swimming are other common behaviors for giant pandas.

    Reproduction

    • Giant pandas usually do not become sexually mature until they are between 5 and 7 years old. Male and female pandas get together to mate during the springtime, in March, April or May, in their natural environments. Usually females call out to males and give off a scent to show they wish to mate. Some males may breed with multiple females during a breeding season. Female pandas often use bamboo to build nests, known as dens, in the wild, according to Animal Planet. They carry their babies for about three to five months before giving birth. Female pandas can have one to two babies.

    Babies

    • Baby pandas, known as cubs, are born with no hair on their bodies. When they are born, they usually only weigh between 4 and 6 oz., according to Enchanted Learning. For about a month after they give birth, females do not leave their babies, according to the Animal Planet. If mothers have two babies, they only take care of one of them in the wild. Giant panda cubs usually do not open their eyes until they are around 6 weeks to 2 months old, and they do not move on their own until they are about 3 months of age. Baby pandas stay with their mothers for about a year to three years. Cubs develop into adults at 2 to 4 years of age, although females mature faster than males. Cubs start to develop the thick, dark fur that helps them to survive around a month after they are born.

    Food

    • Giant pandas have a diet that consists almost exclusively of bamboo, even though they do not get many nutrients from the plant. They have to eat large portions of bamboo to survive. Sometimes they also eat carrots, apples, sweet potatoes or sugar cane. Giant pandas often sleep for about half of the day because they get so little energy from their food. A lack of bamboo trees and a loss of habitat have led to a decrease in the panda population, according to the Defenders of Wildlife.

    Life Span

    • Giant pandas usually live about 18 to 20 years in their natural environments, according to the Zoo Atlanta. In zoos, they can live considerably longer, for up to 30 years. Leopards and humans serve as the greatest threats to pandas. Pandas can escape from predators by climbing trees.