The Giant Panda is a bear native to China. The Giant Panda is amongst the list of weird animals endangered with the treat of extinction. The Panda’s diet partakes solely of bamboo. Bamboo is a plant that is part of the grass family. Bamboo stocks can grow up to 30 or more meters tall, and the stems of the plant are thick and hallow. Bamboo plants can be found in many different countries around the globe, but China is most often associated with bamboo.
These rare animals can eat up to 15 kilos of bamboo a day, but Pandas are still not considered to be herbivores, they are generally classified as carnivores. The reason for this is due to the fact that Pandas have a digestive system identical to regular carnivores even though the panda’s main source of nutrition is bamboo, these creatures also enjoy eating other, less important, foods such as, honey, eggs, and fish. The Giant Panda was added to the list of endangered species in the the year 1958, when China realized it was running out of Pandas to sell to other countries.
Before the Pandas were classified as an endangered species, they were in high demand due to their irresistible cuteness and lack of aggression, their fur was also in high demand. Many hunting expeditions took place in China over the years, and many pandas were killed unfortunately and brought back home as trophies. The sad thing is that pandas do not repopulate at great speeds, so the effects of this trend eventually came to China’s attention. China than placed a ban on hunting Pandas, but still did not declare the creatures as endangered until awhile later. China kept the Pandas and offered to sell or trade them to various countries. In 2005 China offered a breeding pair of Giant Pandas to Taiwan as a gift, the gift was rejected at first, but three years later, in 2008 Taiwan accepted the Pandas. There are an estimated of 1,590 to 3,000 wild Pandas in China today.