# Giant Panda — Facts, Threats & Conservation

*Ailuropoda melanoleuca*

> The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) is a bamboo-eating bear native only to China, listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List with roughly 1,800 to 1,900 mature individuals in the wild as of the 2016 assessment.

**IUCN status:** Vulnerable  ·  **WARN range:** China

## Quick facts
| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Lifespan | About 15–20 years in the wild; often longer in human care |
| Weight | Roughly 70–125 kg; large males up to ~160 kg |
| Size | About 1.2–1.9 m long, head to tail base |
| Diet | Around 99% bamboo (technically a carnivore by order) |
| Gestation | Approximately 95–160 days |
| Young | Usually 1–2 cubs; typically one survives in the wild |
| Baby name | Cub |
| Group name | An embarrassment (rarely seen, as adults are largely solitary) |
| Newborn weight | About 90–130 g, a fraction of the mother's size |
| CITES | Appendix I (no commercial international trade) |

## Scientific classification
- **Kingdom:** Animalia
- **Phylum:** Chordata
- **Class:** Mammalia
- **Order:** Carnivora
- **Family:** Ursidae
- **Genus:** Ailuropoda
- **Species:** Ailuropoda melanoleuca

## Conservation status
- **Status:** Vulnerable
- **Population:** ~1,864 wild adults counted in China's 2014 survey; roughly 1,800–1,900 mature individuals
- **Trend:** Increasing
- **Assessed:** 2016
- **CITES:** Appendix I
- Downlisted from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2016 following habitat protection and reforestation in China, but populations remain fragmented and the species is still at risk.

## Key facts: Giant Panda
- Giant pandas live in the wild only in China, in mountain bamboo forests across Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.
- Although classed as a carnivore by ancestry, the panda eats almost entirely bamboo and must consume huge quantities to meet its energy needs.
- The IUCN moved the giant panda from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2016 after China's protected-area network and reforestation expanded suitable habitat.
- China's 2014 national survey counted about 1,864 wild pandas, up from roughly 1,596 a decade earlier.
- Habitat loss and fragmentation remain the central threats, splitting pandas into many small, isolated populations.
- A 'pseudo-thumb' made from an enlarged wrist bone lets pandas grip and strip bamboo stems with surprising dexterity.

## Where giant pandas live
Wild giant pandas are restricted to a narrow band of mountain forest in central China, mainly in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces. They favour cool, damp coniferous and broadleaf forests with a thick bamboo understorey, typically between about 1,200 and 3,400 metres in elevation. Historically pandas ranged far more widely across southern and eastern China, but farming, logging and human settlement reduced and fragmented that range over centuries. Today surviving pandas are split across roughly 30 separate populations along six mountain ranges, and many of these groups are small enough that isolation is itself a serious risk.

## A carnivore that lives on bamboo
The giant panda is one of nature's most striking dietary specialists. Around 99% of what it eats is bamboo, even though its digestive system is still that of a bear and extracts energy from plants inefficiently. To compensate, a panda may eat 12 to 15 percent of its body weight in bamboo each day and spend up to half its life feeding. An enlarged wrist bone acts as a flexible 'sixth digit', or pseudo-thumb, letting the panda hold stalks while it strips and eats them. Pandas occasionally take other plants, eggs or small animals, but bamboo defines almost everything about how and where they live.

## From Endangered to Vulnerable: a conservation comeback
For most of the late 20th century the giant panda was a global emblem of extinction risk. That changed in 2016, when the IUCN reclassified the species from Endangered to Vulnerable. The reason was measurable progress: China expanded its network of panda reserves, curbed logging in key forests and invested in large-scale reforestation, which increased and reconnected habitat. National surveys reflected the gains, with the wild count rising to about 1,864 animals in 2014. Conservationists stress that 'Vulnerable' is not 'safe' — fragmented habitat, a narrow food source and the long-term pressures of climate change on bamboo all mean the recovery has to be maintained, not assumed.

## Reproduction and slow population growth
Pandas reproduce slowly, which makes population recovery gradual. Females are receptive for only a few days each year, and after a gestation of roughly 95 to 160 days they usually give birth to one or two cubs. Newborns are extraordinarily tiny — often around 100 grams, a fraction of the mother's weight — and are blind and helpless. When twins are born in the wild a mother typically raises only one. Cubs depend on their mother for well over a year, so each successful generation represents a meaningful investment, and protecting breeding-age adults and their habitat is central to keeping numbers climbing.

## Giant panda vs. red panda
| Feature | Giant panda | Red panda |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Scientific name | Ailuropoda melanoleuca | Ailurus fulgens |
| Family | Ursidae (true bears) | Ailuridae (its own family) |
| Adult weight | ~70–125 kg | ~3–6 kg |
| Main diet | ~99% bamboo | Mainly bamboo, plus fruit and insects |
| IUCN status | Vulnerable | Endangered |
| Native range | Central China | Eastern Himalayas and southwestern China |

## What WARN does
The giant panda lives only in China, which is outside the five countries where the World Animal Rescue Network currently funds on-the-ground projects (Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil and Colombia). We are honest about that scope: WARN does not run or fund panda field programmes. This guide exists as educational and search-focused content that supports our broader mission — building global awareness of how habitat loss and the wildlife trade threaten species everywhere. The conservation lessons of the panda's recovery, above all the value of protecting and reconnecting forest habitat, directly inform the kind of work WARN supports in the regions where we are active.

The panda's recovery shows what protecting and reconnecting forest can achieve. WARN doesn't fund panda work directly, but the same habitat threats endanger wildlife across the regions where we do work — support our Habitat Protection appeal to help safeguard the forests animals depend on.

## Frequently asked questions: Giant Panda
### Are giant pandas still endangered?
No. The IUCN reclassified the giant panda from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2016 after wild numbers rose and protected habitat expanded in China. Vulnerable still means the species faces a real risk of extinction in the wild, so it remains a conservation priority.

### How many giant pandas are left in the wild?
China's most recent national survey, completed in 2014, counted about 1,864 wild giant pandas (not including dependent cubs). This is the figure underlying the IUCN's current Vulnerable listing.

### Where do giant pandas live?
Wild giant pandas live only in China, in cool, damp mountain bamboo forests of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, generally between about 1,200 and 3,400 metres elevation.

### What do giant pandas eat?
Roughly 99% of a giant panda's diet is bamboo. They occasionally eat other plants, eggs or small animals, but they rely so heavily on bamboo that they spend most of the day feeding to get enough energy.

### Why are giant pandas threatened despite being a bear?
Their main problem is habitat. Forests have been cleared and fragmented by farming and development, splitting pandas into small, isolated populations. Combined with their slow breeding and dependence on a single food source, that makes them vulnerable even though they have few natural predators.

### Are giant pandas the same as red pandas?
No. The giant panda is a true bear in the family Ursidae. The red panda is a much smaller, raccoon-like animal in its own family. They share a bamboo-rich habitat and a name, but they are not closely related.

## Sources
- [IUCN Red List — Ailuropoda melanoleuca (Giant Panda)](https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/712/121745669)
- [CITES — Giant Panda species page](https://cites.org/eng/gallery/species/mammal/giant_panda.html)
- [Encyclopaedia Britannica — Giant panda](https://www.britannica.com/animal/giant-panda)
- [Smithsonian's National Zoo — Giant panda](https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/giant-panda)
- [IUCN news — Giant panda no longer Endangered (2016)](https://www.iucn.org/news/species/201609/giant-panda-no-longer-endangered-iucn-red-list)
- [Wikipedia — Giant panda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_panda)

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Full guide: https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/wildlife-guides/giant-panda