Ocean Park H.K. Giant Pandas Ying Ying & Le Le 大熊貓盈盈和樂樂 Yummy Yummy Yummy!

Giant Panda General information
The giant panda has a very distinctive black-and-white coat, and adults measure around 1.5m long and around 75cm tall at the shoulder. Males can weigh up to 115 kg (253 pounds). Females are generally smaller than males, and can occasionally weigh up to 100 kg (220 pounds). Giant pandas live in mountainous regions, such as Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi, and Tibet. While the Chinese dragon has been historically a national emblem for China, since the latter half of the 20th century, the panda has also become an informal national emblem for China, and its image is found on many Chinese gold coins.

Despite being taxonomically a carnivore, the panda has a diet that is overwhelmingly herbivorous. The giant panda eats shoots and leaves, living almost entirely on bamboo. This is believed to be a recent adaptation for the panda. Pandas incapable of surviving solely on bamboo would have died out and this is how they've evolved. Bamboo is virtually the only food source available to pandas today. It is believed it was originally a supplementary food source, until the panda could find something with a greater nutritional value, as bamboo offers very little nutritionally. Study on this is very limited due to the low population of pandas. Pandas are also known to eat eggs, the occasional fish, and some insects along with their bamboo diet. Wild pandas today do not have very good access to these alternative food sources. These are necessary sources of protein. Some zoos also feed their pandas specially formulated biscuits, fruitsicles or other treats to supplement their bamboo intake. Like other subtropical mammals, the giant panda does not hibernate.

For many decades the precise taxonomic classification of the panda was under debate as both the giant panda and the distantly related red panda share characteristics of both bears and raccoons. However, genetic testing seems to have revealed that giant pandas are true bears and part of the Ursidae family, but one that diverged relatively early from the rest of the family. Its closest bear relative is the Spectacled Bear of South America. (Disagreement remains about whether or not the red panda belongs in Ursidae; the raccoon family, Procyonidae; or in its own family, Ailuridae.)

Giant pandas are an endangered species, threatened by continued habitat loss and by a very low birthrate, both in the wild and in captivity. Poaching is uncommon; killing a panda was punishable in China by death until a 1997 law changed the penalty to 20 years imprisonment.

The giant panda has an unusual paw, with a "thumb" and five fingers; the "thumb" is actually a modified sesamoid bone, which helps the panda to hold the bamboo while eating. Stephen Jay Gould wrote an essay about this, then used the title The Panda's Thumb for a book of collected essays. The giant panda has a short tail, approximately 15 cm long.

The giant panda has long been a favourite of the public, at least partly on account of the fact that the species has an appealing baby-like cuteness that makes it seem to resemble a living teddy bear. The fact that it is usually depicted reclining peacefully eating bamboo, as opposed to hunting, also adds to its image of innocence. Though the giant panda is often assumed docile because of their cuteness, they have been known to attack humans, usually assumed to be out of irritation rather than predatory behavior.

Giant pandas can usually live to be 20-30 years old while living in captivity.
參考資料
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Panda

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