The Giant Panda has an unusual paw, with a "thumb" and five fingers; the "thumb" is actually a modified sesamoid bone, which helps the panda to hold the bamboo while eating. Stephen Jay Gould wrote an essay about this, then used the title The Panda's Thumb for a book of essays concerned with evolution and intelligent design. The Giant Panda has a short tail, approximately 15 cm long. Giant Pandas can usually live to be 20-30 years old while living in captivity.

　　Until recently, scientists thought giant pandas spent most of their lives alone, with males and females meeting only during the breeding season. Recent studies paint a different picture, in which small groups of pandas share a large territory and sometimes meet outside the breeding season.[citation needed]

　　Like most subtropical mammals, but unlike most bears, the giant panda does not hibernate.

　　Diet

　　Pandas eating bamboo at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.Despite its taxonomic classification as a carnivore, the panda has a diet that is primarily herbivorous, which consists almost exclusively of bamboo. This is an evolutionarily recent adaptation. Pandas lack the proper enzymes to digest bamboo efficiently, and thus derive little energy and little protein from it.

　　While primarily herbivorous, the panda still retains decidedly ursine teeth, and will eat meat, fish, and eggs when available. In captivity, zoos typically maintain the pandas' bamboo diet, though some will provide specially formulated biscuits or other dietary supplements.

　　大熊猫（Ailuropoda melanoleuca），通常称熊猫，是属于熊科的一种哺乳动物，体色为黑白两色。熊猫生长于中国中西部四川盆地周边的山区，是中国特有的野生动物，亦为国宝。全世界现存大约3100只左右，由于生育率低，加上对生活环境的要求相当高，是一种濒危动物。

　　大熊猫古今有许多别名：貔貅、大猫熊、竹熊、白熊、花熊、貘、华熊、花头熊、银狗、大浣熊、峨曲、杜洞尕、执夷、貊、猛豹、猛氏兽及食铁兽等。