The lifespan of giant pandas in the wild is approximately 20 years. Captive pandas may live to be 25-30 years old.

The eyespots of a giant panda cub are initially in the shape of a circle. As the cub grows, the circles become shaped like a teardrop.

Pandas have been a symbol of peace in China. For example, hundreds of years ago, warring tribes in China would raise a flag with a picture of a panda on it to stop a battle or call a truce.

Giant pandas are on the brink of extinction, with just over 1,000 pandas left in the world. Scientists are hoping to increase the wild panda population to 5,000 by 2025.

Pandas can stand upright, but their short hind legs aren’t strong enough to support their bodies. A panda’s bones are twice as heavy as the bones of other animals the same size.

Pandas are pigeon-toed; in other words, they walk with their front paws turned inward.

Pandas do not run fast—a slow trot is as fast as they can go. The fastest bear is the black bear, which can run 35 miles per hour. That’s about as a fast as a horse or deer.

Pandas rely less on visual memory than they do on spatial memory to locate a mate’s home range area and preferred patches of bamboo. Spatial memory is defined as the ability to remember a location.

Female pandas ovulate only once a year. They are fertile only two or three days of the year.

It takes about five years for a female cub to become an adult and up to seven years for a male cub.