A LITTLE WILDLIFE PERSPECTIVE
How tall is a giant panda?
Compare your height to a giant panda.
A giant panda on all fours stands roughly 60–90 cm (2–3 ft) at the shoulder.
A LITTLE PERSPECTIVE
Giant panda
next to the average.
Average U.S. adults, side by side.
- Average man (U.S.)5 ft 8.9 in
- Giant panda2 ft 11.4 in
- Average woman (U.S.)5 ft 3.5 in
How do you measure up?
Enter your height to stand beside a giant panda.
Side by side
- Giant panda2 ft 11.4 in
- Your placeAdd your height
The animal is an example adult in the pose shown. Its full outline is scaled to 90 cm. Shoulder height and body length are explained below.
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GET TO KNOW THE ANIMAL
Small facts. Big discoveries.
Giant panda · Ailuropoda melanoleuca
A giant panda spends much of its time eating bamboo. Large grinding teeth and strong jaw muscles help break down the tough stems.
A panda often sits up to eat, leaving both front paws free to handle bamboo. An enlarged wrist bone acts like an extra thumb for gripping stems, and the panda spends much of its day feeding because it digests that fibrous food inefficiently.
- Pandas live in cool mountain forests in China.
- A newborn panda is tiny compared with its mother—roughly the size of a stick of butter.
How big do adults get?
- Male
- Up to about 250 lb in the wild
- Female
- Rarely reaches about 220 lb in the wild
That is approximately 113 kg for males and 100 kg for females. Shoulder height is measured on all fours; sitting or standing produces a different outline.
Height, length, or weight?
Standing height runs from the ground to the top of the animal. Shoulder height stops at the top of the shoulders. Length runs along the body; it is not how tall an animal stands. Weight tells us how heavy it is.
Explore the science: Smithsonian’s National Zoo ↗