panda

/ˈpændə/

/ˈpændə/

Other forms: pandas

A panda is a black and white bear that's native to China. You can't miss the giant pandas in the zoo, with those distinctive black rings around their eyes.

For years experts debated about whether pandas were bears, a type of raccoon, or their own separate species. The latest DNA research has scientists mostly convinced that pandas are indeed bears. These big mammals have a reputation for being lazy, but they spend almost 20 hours a day eating, and they don't hibernate like many bears. Wild pandas are endangered, but there are about 400 captive pandas being carefully bred and protected.

Definitions of panda

1. noun

   large black-and-white herbivorous mammal of bamboo forests of China and Tibet; in some classifications considered a member of the bear family or of a separate family Ailuropodidae
   synonyms: Ailuropoda melanoleuca, coon bear, giant panda, panda bear

   type of:

   procyonid

   plantigrade carnivorous mammals
2. noun

   reddish-brown Old World raccoon-like carnivore; in some classifications considered unrelated to the giant pandas
   synonyms: Ailurus fulgens, bear cat, cat bear, lesser panda, red panda

   type of:

   procyonid

   plantigrade carnivorous mammals