Giant pandas grow to be 27 to 32 inches (70 - 80 centimeters) tall at the shoulder, 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 meters) long and can weigh up to 275 lbs. (125 kilograms), according to the San Diego Zoo Their size is about the same as an American black bear. By comparison, the giant panda's distant relative, the red panda, is only 20 to 26 inches (50 to 65 cm) tall and weighs 10 to 20 lbs. (4.5 to 9 kg).
In the wild, giant pandas are only found in the remote, mountainous regions of central China, in Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, according to the National Zoo. In this area, between 5,000 and 10,000 feet elevation (1,524 - 3,048 m), are the cool, wet bamboo forests that giant panda's call home. The large bears make their dens from hollowed-out logs or stumps of conifer trees found within the forest.
A giant panda's appetite for bamboo is insatiable. They eat bamboo 12 hours a day, which adds up to 28 lbs. (12.5 kg) of bamboo each day, according to National Geographic. Giant pandas have a special bone that extends from their wrists called a "pseudo-thumb," according to the San Diego Zoo. They use their pseudo-thumb to hold and manipulate the bamboo.
Bamboo is relatively low in nutrients, which is why pandas have to eat so much of it. In order to get a variety of nutrients, pandas eat various parts of the bamboo plant and will seek out bamboo that's sprouting new shoots and leaves (the young shoots and leaves contain higher amounts of nutrients, including calcium, nitrogen and phosphorous) at different times of the year. In the summer, giant pandas will climb 13,000 feet (3,962 m) up the mountains of their home area to feed, according to the National Geographic.
Sometimes there isn't enough bamboo around to sustain the large bears, so giant pandas will occasionally supplement their bamboo-diet with rodents, fish, insects or birds.