Panda's are very close relatives of bears and raccoons. Different authorities may differ on their standpoint on classifying the panda. The giant panda lives in mountainous regions about 3,000 feet up in Asia, mostly in China. It is estimated that only 1,000 pandas are left in the wild, and that is the reason zoos are trying to breed them. However, they are not having much luck, and most of the baby pandas die.