The Giant Panda, with its striking black and white coat, holds a unique place in the global imagination as a symbol of wildlife conservation. These bears from the bamboo forests of central China are instantly recognizable. The animal’s distinct biology and solitary nature lead to specific terminology used to describe its young and its groups.
The Term for a Baby Panda
The answer to what you call a baby panda is simple: a cub. This term is consistent with many other species in the bear family (Ursidae), such as brown bears and polar bears, whose young are also referred to as cubs. The term is widely accepted in both common language and scientific literature. Even the unrelated Red Panda has young that are also called cubs.
Unique Characteristics of Newborn Cubs
A newborn cub is one of the smallest infants relative to its mother’s size across all placental mammals. At birth, a giant panda cub typically weighs only about 90 to 210 grams, which is roughly the size of a stick of butter. This tiny size means the cub is about 1/900th the weight of its mother, a dramatic ratio far exceeding that found in humans or other large carnivores.
This extreme prematurity is an evolutionary adaptation linked to the panda’s specialized, low-energy bamboo diet, which makes sustaining a longer pregnancy difficult. All bears experience a period of delayed implantation, but the panda’s actual embryonic development period is notably truncated. The cubs remain completely helpless, relying entirely on the mother for warmth and feeding, and their eyes do not open until they are six to eight weeks old. The distinctive black and white fur begins to emerge only around three weeks after birth.
Terminology for Adult and Group Pandas
While the young are clearly defined as cubs, the terminology for adult pandas is less standardized in scientific fields. Adult pandas are most often referred to simply as male or female giant pandas in zoological journals. Terms like “boar” for a male and “sow” for a female are sometimes used in popular culture, mirroring the nomenclature for pigs, but these are not official scientific terms. Males generally show sexual dimorphism, being 10 to 20 percent larger than females.
The collective noun for a group of pandas is perhaps the most unusual piece of terminology. The most commonly cited, albeit whimsical, term is an “embarrassment” of pandas. This term is a non-scientific collective noun, possibly inspired by the panda’s famously clumsy or shy demeanor. Other less common collective nouns include a “cupboard” or a “bamboo” of pandas. However, giant pandas are naturally solitary animals, meaning that seeing a group together is a rare event that typically only happens during the brief breeding season.