Giant panda

This is a photograph of one of the pandas at the American National Zoo in Washington. There are only about 1000 pandas left in the wild, so captive breeding in zoos and reserves is very important if the panda is to survive.

The pandas at the zoo are fed a diet of bamboo and vegetables, and are given lots of things to do so they don't get bored.

This is a photograph of the two pandas at the American National Zoo in Washington.

It is very important that animals are kept healthy and active at the zoo. At one time zoos were very boring places, where animals were kept in cages. Now zoos do their best to make their enclosures as close to the animal's natural habitat as possible. Here you can see the pandas climbing on logs and old wood.

This is a photograph of the two pandas at the American National Zoo in Washington.

It is very important that animals are kept healthy and active at the zoo. The pandas are given a variety of different foods to keep their diet interesting and healthy. Here you can see them eating bamboo, the major part of their diet in the wild.

This is a photograph of one of the pandas at the American National Zoo in Washington. There are only about 1000 pandas left in the wild, so captive breeding in zoos and reserves is very important if the panda is to survive.

The pandas at the zoo are fed a diet of bamboo and vegetables, and are given lots of things to do so they don't get bored.

Bamboo makes up almost all of a wild panda's diet. The health and stability of bamboo forests means a lot to the survival of the giant panda.

It takes a long time for bamboo to grow to a level that will provide a sustainable food source for pandas. As more and more forests are cut down the giant panda's habitat reduces in size and their source of food is also reduced - this is not good news for the panda.

The Chinese language is very different to ours. Chinese words are not made up of letters. They are written as a set of characters - these represent different syllables. As you can see, the words for 'panda' and 'bamboo' are each made up of two characters.

The giant panda is an important symbol in China. Scientists are working to learn more about the pandas' natural habitat. There are also many breeding programmes set up around China to help the panda increase its numbers.