Why has the panda population declined? Can cloning save the giant panda? How many kilos of bamboo does a panda eat every day? Find out the answers to these questions and more.

People & pandas

1. When was the giant panda discovered?

People in China have known about pandas since ancient times. The giant panda was unknown in the Western world until 1869, when Pere Armand David, a French missionary, obtained some panda skins in Sichuan.

2. How do the people who live near pandas feel about them?

They like pandas and know that Chinese law strictly protects pandas. They hope pandas can bring good luck for them. But they also hope that panda conservation doesn mean losing their economic livelihood. This is why it is important to help local people in panda habitat areas find alternatives for fuel wood and hunting.

3. Is it true that hungry pandas go to farmers?homes looking for food?

Pandas occasionally walk into villages, apparently in search of food. Since pandas normally avoid people, scientists believe that these wandering animals may be young pandas that have left their mothers but not yet established their own territories. In ancient China, one nickname for the panda was ron-eating beast,? apparently because someone had observed a panda licking out someone cooking pot! In the 1980s, when there was a severe bamboo die-off in panda habitat, there were many reports of starving pandas seeking food in villages.

4. Do pandas ever attack people?

Pandas are very shy, and like most other wild animals, they run away if possible when they encounter people. People have been injured by captive pandas, however.

5. Is it easy to see pandas in the wild?

A It is very difficult to see a panda in the wild because they live in thick bamboo in old-growth forests. But if you go into the forests where pandas live, it is easy to find panda traces like droppings and partly-eaten bamboo.