Giant Panda - bear?

I caught some on the series 'Pandamonium'(sp) recently and it reminded me about the dispute whether the Giant Panda is a bear or not.

My enclocopedia is 10 years old and just says there is some dispute. Has the thinking changed any since then, does anyone know?

cheers

 

Panda=Bearlike Mammal in my ref book

 

Hi borrowers, in Wikipedia it is classed as a bear -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Panda

Here is one for you -

 

Glad you were scratching your head Pal. thought it was just me Ta. So you would class it as a ....?

Thanks KG. So you would class it as a bear then?

cheers

 

Yes, I would class it as a bear.

Here is a good link I just found which explains it clearly -

http://www.bearplanet.org/pandabear.shtml

 

Thanks KG, good site that.

So it's a bear

Cheers

 

Yes, I'm a bear, borrowers

 

Sweet Did you catch any of that programme I mentioned? I didn't see it all but liked what I did.

cheers

 

Unfortunately, I didn't.

Our satilite dish is set up to get the German-speaking programmes, but we do get some of the news programmes like BBC and CNN, etc.

 

I had typed a response to this, but my cat walked on the keyboard, hit her magic cat button and posted my reply into thin air!
I think the panda is definitely a bear, even if in the past (?) it was considered a relative of raccoons. They all have burglars masks, that's a fact :D

 

Thanks Ivory, I wish I had a cat to blame when my posts disappear

cheers

 

...:hehe::hehe::hehe::lollol::lollol::lollol::yho::yho::yho:borrowers ivory doesnt have a cat:skp::D