Giant Panda
As Grade I animal under national protection, the giant panda is a famous rare species of animal exclusively existing in China. Enjoying the fame of "National Treasure", it has been winning the favor of people with its plump body form, charmingly naïve motion as well as black and white fur color.
Giant panda belongs to carnivore ailuropodidae and is featured by bear-like figure, clearly demarcated black and white fur, round and big head, plump body, extremely short tail and stumbled motion. It mainly inhabits in the forest of mountainous areas 800-3000m above sea level, with bamboo culm, bamboo leaves and shoots as the main food. The panda's main food is bamboo, but they may eat other foods such as honey, eggs, fish, and yams. As its ancestor appeared in the early pluvial period 2-3 million years ago, it is also known as a living fossil. Habitat of the giant panda once included most eastern and southern areas of China, and now is distributed only in Minshan Mountain, Qionglaishan Mountain, Daxiangling Mountain Range and Xiaoxiangling Mountain Range in Sichuan Province, Qinling Mountain Range in Shaanxi Province and Minshan Mountain in the south of Gansu Province. About 1000 giant pandas exist at present. As a principal producing area of the giant panda, Wolong Nature Reserve has been listed in the UN's "Human & Ecosphere" nature reserve network and serves as a research center of giant pandas.
 Giant pandas are an endangered species, threatened by continued habitat loss and by a very low birthrate, both in the wild and in captivity.Until recently; scientists thought giant pandas spent most of their lives alone, with males and females meeting only during the breeding season. Recent studies paint a different picture, in which small groups of pandas share a large territory and sometimes meet outside the breeding season.
It is a long history since the giant panda became a messenger of peace and friendship. During the period between 1957 and 1982, a total of 23 giant pandas were successively presented by China to nine countries-the Soviet Union, North Korea, America, Japan, France, Britain, Federal Germany, Mexico and Spain. In 1990 Beijing Asian Games, the giant panda appeared as the mascot "Panpan" who was holding a medal in his hand. It then became a household image in China. Furthermore, Fuwa Jingjing, one of the five Fuwas as the mascot of Beijing 2008 Olympics Games, has been created with the giant panda as the prototype.
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