The giant panda's habitat

Where the giant panda lives
The giant panda lives in cool, damp mountain areas, and bamboo forests, where the bamboo grows, in south-western China and eastern Tibet (the Qionglai, Daxiangling, Liang and Xiaoxiongling Mountains and Qinling Range in Shaanxi Province).

Having to move
A few thousand years ago the giant panda lived in other parts of China, too, but, slowly, the climate became drier. Bamboo needs damp, cool places to live, so lots of it died. In the higher country, though, there was moist air, and here there was lots of bamboo. Therefore, the pandas moved to the hills.

Human influence
Recently, humans have been clearing large areas of the bamboo forests for farms, so the giant panda is continuously being forced even higher up into the mountains. Now the only places the panda lives are 2134m - 3048m above sea level. This is so high that clouds drift through the trees.

Many unusual animals live here, like the goat-like goral, the furry takin, rare golden monkeys, small muntjacs, the "barking deer" and little whistling pikas, which look like guinea pigs. In winter it is bitterly cold, but in spring it warms up, and wild flowers peep up through the snow.

Camouflage
The giant panda is very hard to see in the weak, green light of the bamboo forests. The bamboo plants are up to 2m high. It moves swiftly through the tunnels in the undergrowth. Also, its black and white coat blends in with the shadows. If you're not very close, you can't see it. This is one of the reasons why we know so little about it. Scientists see them sometimes, but with many weeks in between.

Discovered
The giant panda was, in fact, unknown to the Western world until 1869, when Pêre Armand David, a French naturalist, saw furs of what he called 'an unusual two-coloured bear'. He did not actually see a panda.