Giant Panda-demic!

Today's animal of the Day is the Giant Panda!

So here's some fun facts about this awesome bear.

• Giant Pandas live only in remote mountainous regions in central China, since there's high bamboo forests, which the pandas like since they're cold and wet.
• They eat mostly bamboo, however, they have been known to eat insects and small rodents on occasion. 
• They are awesome climbers, they'll even climb 13,000 feet in order to eat during the summer time. 
• Giants Pandas have 5-month long pregnancies. They give birth to 1-2 completely white babies, who will develop its black spots later in life. They cubs are also blind. 
• In the wild, Giant Pandas are elusive animals and there's only about 1,000 left

When eating Bamboo, the Giant Panda sits upright like a person. How adorable is that?

 So you want a pet Giant Panda...
Although they look so cute and resemble an over-sized teddy bear, having a captive Giant Panda is a bad idea, let's talk about why!

• They eat A LOT of Bamboo. Giant Panda's diets consist basically solely of Bamboo. Considering they are a Giant Panda, they have a huge appetite. They consume about 28lbs of bamboo a day. I'm not entirely sure of any local markets that sell bamboo, nevertheless 28lbs of bamboo.
• They'd make a terrible friend.  Giant Pandas spend 12 of the 24 hours of the day eating bamboo. Pretty much the only time they won't be eating bamboo is when you're sleeping, and they are too. What about your needs? What about what you want? They won't care. You're not bamboo. 
• They like to Ride Solo. Giant Pandas are solitary animals and like to be that way. They even have special smelling abilities that allow them to smell out other pandas in order to avoid them. They'll probably avoid you too. Do you really want to go through that heartbreak? 
• It's illegal. There are only 1,000 Giant Pandas left in the wild. They're an endangered species so you can't own them. It's best to leave the remaining wild pandas where they belong so conservation efforts can be made to safely save them. If you would like to symbolically adopt a Giant Panda, and help with conservation efforts you can do it here on the World Wildlife Fund website. 

Well that's the Giant Panda for you! and for your viewing pleasure, here's a video of baby pandas playing on a slide