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Giant pandas live in a few mountain ranges in central China, in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces. They once lived in lowland areas, but farming, forest clearing, and other development now restrict giant pandas to the mountains.

Habitat

Giant pandas live in broadleaf and coniferous forests with a dense understory of bamboo, at elevations between 5,000 and 10,000 feet. Torrential rains or dense mist throughout the year characterizes these forests, often shrouded in heavy clouds.

Physical description

The giant panda, a black-and-white bear, has a body typical of bears. It has black fur on ears, eye patches, muzzle, legs, and shoulders. The rest of the animal's coat is white. Although scientists do not know why these unusual bears are black and white, some speculate that the bold coloring provides effective camouflage into their shade-dappled snowy and rocky surroundings. The panda's thick, wooly coat keeps it warm in the cool forests of its habitat. Giant pandas have large molar teeth and strong jaw muscles for crushing tough bamboo. Many people find these chunky, lumbering animals to be cute, but giant pandas can be as dangerous as any other bear.

Size

About the size of an American black bear, giant pandas stand between two and three feet tall at the shoulder (on all four legs), and reach four to six feet long. Males are larger than females, weighing up to 250 pounds in the wild. Females rarely reach 220 pounds.

Status

The giant panda is listed as endangered in the World Conservation Union's (IUCN's) Red List of Threatened Species. There are about 1,600 left in the wild. More than 300 pandas live in zoos and breeding centers around the world, mostly in China.

Life span

Scientists aren't sure how long giant pandas live in the wild, but they are sure it's shorter than lifespans in zoos. Chinese scientists have reported zoo pandas as old as 35. The National Zoo's Hsing-Hsing died at age 28 in 1999.

Diet

A wild giant panda’s diet is almost exclusively (99 percent) bamboo. The balance consists of other grasses and occasional small rodents or musk deer fawns. In zoos, giant pandas eat bamboo, sugar cane, rice gruel, a special high-fiber biscuit, carrots, apples, and sweet potatoes.

Explore on 01/27/08.

The traveler's palm is one of nature's most distinctive and remarkable plants. Although this plant is called a palm; it is not a true palm. It grows up, to 40" tall, while the big banana-like leaves can grow up to 15" long. The leaves are arranged in a fan-shaped manner; it has a rather short, palm like, trunk. The small white flowers are held in bracts. In these bracts and leaf folds, rainwater is collected. The fruits are brown while the seeds are blue. The traveler's palm tolerates sandy and clayey soils with good drainage, and thrives in rich, moist and loamy soils. Light: The traveler's palm thrives and grows best in full sun but also grows well in part sun/shade. Small plants should be shaded until well established. The traveler's palm requires a lot of light, especially when grown indoors. Moisture: Soils should be moist and have good drainage to yield optimal growth. Hardiness: USDA Zones 10 - 11. Propagation: The traveler's palm may be propagated by seeds or by division and replanting of the attractive clumps (or suckers) formed at the base of the plant.