Panda 30cm - Soft Toy

Physical Characteristics
A rare and elusive animal in the wild, the Panda is an endangered species. There are estimated to be only around 1000 Giant pandas left in the wild. Average lifespan in the wild: 20 years Size: 4 to 5 ft (1.2 to 1.5 m) Weight: 300 lbs (136 kg).

Habitat
Wild pandas live only in the remote, mountainous regions in central China. These high bamboo forests are cool and wet, the ideal habitat as far as a Panda is concerned. In the Summer season they may climb as high as 13,000 feet (3,962 meters) to feed on higher slopes.

Behaviour
Pandas are often seen sitting eating. They may appear sedentary, but they are skilled tree-climbers and efficient swimmers.

Breeding
Pandas have a highly developed sense of smell that males use to avoid each other and to find females for mating in the spring. After a five-month pregnancy, females give birth to a cub or two, though they cannot care for both twins. The blind infants weigh only 142 grams at birth and cannot crawl until they reach three months of age.

Diet
The giant panda has an insatiable appetite for bamboo. A typical animal eats for a full 12 hours out of every 24 hours and relieves itself dozens of times a day. It takes 12.5 kilograms of bamboo to satisfy a giant panda's daily dietary needs, and it hungrily plucks the stalks with elongated wrist bones that function rather like thumbs. Pandas will sometimes eat birds or rodents as well.

Strange and Interesting Facts
Baby pandas are born white and develop their black patches later on.