Two subspecies of giant panda have been recognized on the basis of distinct cranial measurements, colour patterns, and population genetics. Subspecies The Qinling panda has a light brown and white pattern This name did not gain its popularity until 1988, when a private zoo in Tainan painted a sun bear black and white and created the Tainan fake panda incident.

Some linguists argue, in this construction, 'bear' instead of 'cat' is the base noun, making the name more grammatically and logically correct, which may have led to the popular choice despite official writings. 'giant cat bear'), though many encyclopedias and dictionaries in Taiwan still use the 'bear cat' form as the correct name. In Taiwan, another popular name for panda is the inverted dàmāoxióng ( 大貓熊 lit. 'little bear cat') were coined to differentiate between the species.

As with the word panda in English, xióngmāo ( 熊貓) was originally used to describe just the red panda, but dàxióngmāo ( 大熊貓) and xiǎoxióngmāo ( 小熊猫 lit. 'giant bear cat'), or simply xióngmāo ( 熊貓 lit. The most popular names in China today are dàxióngmāo ( 大熊貓 lit. Since the earliest collection of Chinese writings, the Chinese language has given the bear many different names, including mò ( 貘, ancient Chinese name for giant panda), huāxióng ( 花熊 'spotted bear') and zhúxióng ( 竹熊 'bamboo bear'). Even in 2013, the Encyclopædia Britannica still used 'giant panda' or 'panda bear' for the bear, and simply 'panda' for the red panda. This necessitated the use of 'giant' and 'lesser/red' prefixes to differentiate the species. In many older sources, the name 'panda' or 'common panda' refers to the red panda ( Ailurus fulgens), which was described some 40 years earlier and over that period was the only animal known as a panda. The closest candidate is the Nepali word ponya, possibly referring to the adapted wrist bone of the red panda, which is native to Nepal. The word panda was borrowed into English from French, but no conclusive explanation of the origin of the French word panda has been found. The giant panda has been referred to as a living fossil. These studies show it diverged about 19 million years ago from the common ancestor of the Ursidae it is the most basal member of this family and equidistant from all other extant bear species. However in 1985, molecular studies indicate the giant panda is a true bear, part of the family Ursidae. The giant panda has often served as China's national symbol, appeared on Chinese Gold Panda coins since 1982 and as one of the five Fuwa mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing.įor many decades, the precise taxonomic classification of the giant panda was under debate because it shares characteristics with both bears and raccoons. In July 2021, Chinese authorities also reclassified the giant panda as vulnerable. In 2016, it was reclassified on the IUCN Red List from 'endangered' to 'vulnerable', affirming decade-long efforts to save the panda. By March 2015, the wild giant panda population had increased to 1,864 individuals. Some reports also show that the number of giant pandas in the wild is on the rise. Wild population estimates vary one estimate shows that there are about 1,590 individuals living in the wild, while a 2006 study via DNA analysis estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000 to 3,000. By December 2014, 49 giant pandas lived in captivity outside China, living in 18 zoos in 13 countries. A 2007 report showed 239 pandas living in captivity inside China and another 27 outside the country. As a result of farming, deforestation, and other development, the giant panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived, and it is a conservation-reliant vulnerable species. The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan, and also in neighbouring Shaanxi and Gansu. In captivity, they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams, shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared food. Giant pandas in the wild occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents, or carrion. Though it belongs to the order Carnivora, the giant panda is a folivore, with bamboo shoots and leaves making up more than 99% of its diet. The name 'giant panda' is sometimes used to distinguish it from the red panda, a neighboring musteloid. It is characterised by its bold black-and-white coat and rotund body. The giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca), sometimes called a panda bear or simply panda, is a bear species endemic to China. 'Panda' in Traditional (top) and Simplified (bottom) Chinese characters

Panda predators