The?giant panda?(Ailuropoda?melanoleuca,?literally?"black and white cat-foot";?Chinese:?大熊猫;?pinyin:?dà xióng māo,?literally"big bear cat"),[4]?also known as?panda bear?or simply?panda, is a?bear[5]?native to south central?China.[1]?It is easily recognized by the large, distinctive black patches around its eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes used to distinguish it from the unrelated?red panda. Though it belongs to the order?Carnivora, the giant panda's diet is over 99%?bamboo.[6]?Giant pandas in the wild will occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents, or carrion. In captivity, they may receive honey, eggs, fish, yams,?shrub leaves, oranges, or bananas along with specially prepared food.[7][8]
The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in?Sichuan, but also in neighbouring?Shaanxi?and?Gansu.[9]?As a result of farming,?deforestation, and other development, the giant panda has been driven out of the lowland areas where it once lived.
The giant panda is a?conservation reliant?vulnerable species.[10][11]?A 2007 report showed 239 pandas living in captivity inside China and another 27 outside the country.[12]?As of December 2014, 49 giant pandas lived in captivity outside China, living in 18 zoos in 13 different countries.[13]?Wild population estimates vary; one estimate shows that there are about 1,590 individuals living in the wild,[12]?while a 2006 study via?DNA analysis?estimated that this figure could be as high as 2,000 to 3,000.[14]?Some reports also show that the number of giant pandas in the wild is on the rise.[15]?In March 2015,?Mongabay?stated that the wild giant panda population had increased by 268, or 16.8%, to 1,864.[16]?In 2016, the?IUCN?reclassified the species from "endangered" to "vulnerable".[11]
While the?dragon?has often served as China's?national symbol, internationally the giant panda appears at least as commonly.[citation needed]?As such, it is becoming widely used within China in international contexts, for example since 1982 issuing?gold panda bullion?coins or as one of the five?Fuwa?mascots of the?Beijing Olympics.
扩展资料：
1、大熊猫（学名：Ailuropoda melanoleuca，英文名称：Giant panda），属于食肉目、熊科、大熊猫亚科和大熊猫属唯一的哺乳动物，体色为黑白两色，它有着圆圆的脸颊，大大的黑眼圈，胖嘟嘟的身体，标志性的内八字的行走方式，也有解剖刀般锋利的爪子。是世界上最可爱的动物之一。
2、大熊猫已在地球上生存了至少800万年，被誉为“活化石”和“中国国宝”，世界自然基金会的形象大使，是世界生物多样性保护的旗舰物种。据第三次全国大熊猫野外种群调查，全世界野生大熊猫不足1600只，属于中国国家一级保护动物。截止2011年10月，全国圈养大熊猫数量为333只。大熊猫最初是吃肉的，经过进化，99%的食物都是竹子了，但牙齿和消化道还保持原样，仍然划分为食肉目。野外大熊猫的寿命为18～20岁，圈养状态下可以超过30岁。
3、大熊猫是中国特有种，现存的主要栖息地是中国四川、陕西和甘肃的山区。