By ~*StoriesFromTheHeart*~

Scientists have discussed for more than a century whether giant pandas belong to the bear family, the raccoon family or a separate family of their own. This is because the giant panda and its cousin, red panda, share many traits with both bears and raccoons. Studies show that giant pandas are more closely related to bears and red pandas are more closely related to raccoons. The giant pandas are in the bear family while red pandas are in the raccoon family.

Giant pandas live to be about 18 to 20 years old in the wild. They may live to be over 30 years old in captivity. Panda’s main food is bamboo. An adult male can eat 28 pound of bamboo a day. This is over 10,000 pounds of bamboo a year.

Baby pandas, cubs, are born blind. They only have a little fur.

The black marking develop about 10-12 days. The cub has all it’s fur in about 25 days. They start to walk at four months. They begin to feed on bamboo at about 14 months old. The baby panda will stay with its mother for at least 18 months and sometimes as long as 2 ½ years.