THE GIANT PANDA

You've probably seen pictures of this cuddly-looking creature. The giant panda is the symbol of the World Wide Fund for Nature, and appears on lots of leaflets and posters. For many people, the giant panda has come to stand for everything that's worth saving in the world of nature. a giant panda is just about the most prized animal a zoo can have. Giant pandas live in the wild only in central china. When China started to welcome foreign visitors, giant pandas were sometimes given to important people as presents. So giant pandas have only just begun to be seen in zoos outside China. Giant pandas eat only one kind of food-bamboo shoots, and lots of them. But there aren't always enough to be found. Every hundred years or so, these bamboo plnts produce seeds and die. It then takes several years for the seeds to grow. By the time the plants are big enough to eat,many giant pandas have died of starvation.(childcraftvol4)