The giant panda is native to which country?

The giant panda is native to China.

Wild giant pandas live in fragmented mountain habitats in central China, especially in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces. Their range is now concentrated in six mountainous regions, where cool forests provide the bamboo they depend on.

Although pandas belong to the order Carnivora and are genuine members of the bear family, about 99% of their diet is bamboo. Their famous “thumb” is actually a modified wrist bone that helps them grip stalks while feeding. They do not naturally come from Nepal, India, or Japan; those countries may have pandas in zoos, but not native wild populations.

The giant panda is also a major Chinese cultural symbol. Habitat loss once sharply reduced its range, but conservation and habitat protection helped wild numbers recover enough for the species to be reclassified from Endangered to Vulnerable by the IUCN in 2016.