A bear of mountain forests in China that feeds mainly on bamboo. Its white body contrasts with black ears and eye patches.
An enlarged wrist bone acts like a thumb to help it hold bamboo.
A panda holds bamboo with its fingers and an enlarged wrist bone. This grip helps it handle the stems while sitting to feed. Its life also extends beyond a single patch of forest: tracking in the Qinling Mountains has documented seasonal movement between different ranges.
At Foping National Nature Reserve on the southern Qinling slopes, six wild pandas, five males and one female, were GPS-tracked during 2007–2018. They moved seasonally between winter and summer habitats. First arrivals in summer habitat fell between 20 May and 20 June; returns to winter habitat occurred from August to October.
Newborn cubs have closed eyes and feed on their mother’s milk. An otherwise solitary life also includes the time a mother spends raising her young.
Giant Pandas often live alone but leave scent marks on familiar paths, rubbing secretions onto trees, rocks or the ground. Other pandas encounter these messages without meeting the animal.
Scent can maintain distance or attract mates. Unfamiliar marks may discourage approach outside breeding season, while a receptive female’s scent attracts males.
A May 2025 keeper account described Bao Li and Qing Bao investigating each other’s marks. Staff followed vocal and behavioural changes alongside urinary hormones to understand reproductive development.
An extinction-risk assessment has not been added yet.
Fragmented bamboo forests make movement between habitats difficult. Protected reserves in China help conserve wild pandas and their habitat.
The Smithsonian’s 2025 keeper account describes combining behavioural monitoring with urinary hormone analysis to understand reproductive development.