The national animal of China is Giant Panda. The binomial nomenclature for Giant panda is Ailuropoda melanoleuca. It belongs to the family Ursidae which is actually the bear family.
Giant Panda Facts:
Giant Pandas now live in a few mountainous range in central China, in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and the Gansu provinces. The Pandas once lived in lower altitude regions, but population, forest clearing for farming, and other heavy development pushed Giant Pandas to mountainous regions only. The Giant Panda is a typical black and white bear, however, looks cuter than typical bears. The entire body of a panda is white while the eyes have the black patch of fur, the muzzle, legs, and shoulders are covered with black fur too. Giant Pandas possess quite large molar teeth along with strong jaws to crush bamboo easily. As like all other bears Giant Panda can be brutal even though they look cute. The average adult Panda male can attain a weight of 120 KG, on the other hands, females rarely reach 100 KG. Astonishing thing here is that the Pandas really sit in human position while eating something.
Why is the Giant Panda the national animal of China ?
As per a global conservation report in 2007, there were just 249 Giant Pandas in China under captivity while only a small count of 27 around the world. The endangered Pandas opt as national animal of China solely for the sake of its conservation. The black and white bears are very near to extinction, however, China holds about 90% of the population of the animal.