Giant panda years ago) from the main ursine stock; since it is the most basal member of the group, it is equidistant from all other extant ursids. The giant panda has been referred to as a living fossil. Despite the shared name, habitat type, and diet, as well as a unique enlarged bone called the "pseudo thumb" (which helps them grip the bamboo shoots they eat) the giant panda and red panda are only distantly related. The word "panda" was borrowed into English from French, but no conclusive explanation of the origin of the French word "panda" has been found. The closest
Ling Ling (giant panda) Ling Ling (giant panda) Ling Ling was born at the Beijing Zoo in Beijing, China, on September 5, 1985. He was given to Japan and the Ueno Zoo in November 1992 by China in exchange for a panda which had been born in Japan. The 1992 panda exchange, between China and Japan, which is often called Panda diplomacy, took place to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the normalization of bilateral Sino-Japanese relations in 1972. He remained one of the Ueno Zoo's most popular attractions for over 15 years. The Ueno Zoo paired Ling Ling with a female panda named Tong