🇨🇳China·National Treasure
🐼Giant Panda
The face of global conservation.
The giant panda has been called China's 'national treasure' for centuries and is the modern face of the country abroad. The species lives only in temperate bamboo forests in the mountains of central China. After decades of conservation work, it was downgraded from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2016.
Why this animal?
Pandas have been gifted as state diplomatic presents since the Tang Dynasty (7th century). In the 20th century, 'panda diplomacy' became a major instrument of Chinese foreign policy — pandas given to the US, UK, and Japan helped open or warm diplomatic ties.
Things to know
- ·Pandas eat 12 to 38 kg of bamboo every day to extract enough nutrition.
- ·They have a 'pseudo-thumb' — an enlarged wrist bone — that helps them grip bamboo.
- ·Every panda outside China is technically on loan from the Chinese government, with cubs born abroad returned to China within a few years.
- ·Pandas are surprisingly good swimmers and climbers despite their bulk.
- ·Wild pandas number about 1,800 — a number that has steadily increased since the 1980s.