The Animals of China: Giant Panda

The Summer Olympics are well underway in Beijing, China, and this week I'm going to talk about the animals of China. The first animal that probably comes to mind is the Giant Panda (Ailuro Poda melanoleucd), so we'll start with it.


The Giant Panda is only found in China. It is also an endangered species. For exhibition, reproduction and research, 240 Giant Pandas were captured from the wild, but at present time only about 100 still survive in zoos and natural breeding centers. Shanghai Zoological Park began to raise Giant Pandas in 1957. Up to 1994, 15 babies were born, but no baby survived. From 1990, they cooperated with Chongqing Zoo on the Giant Panda's reproduction, by the way of offering a male Giant Panda, Chuanchuan. Up to 1995, three babies were born. Two belong to the Chongqing Zoo and one belongs to the Shanghai Zoo. They named him Cong Cong.


See The Jungle Store's Panda Fact Sheet for more information.