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Vulnerable creature adapting to change without a companion in the end (5,5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

giant panda

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'vulnerable creature' is the definition.
'giant panda' can be an answer for 'creature' (giant pandas are animals). I'm not certain of the 'vulnerable' bit.

'adapting to change without a companion in the end' is the wordplay.
'to change' indicates anagramming the letters.
'without' means one lot of letters goes inside another ('without' can be similar in meaning to 'outside').
'in the end' indicates one should take the final letters.
The last letter of 'companion' is 'n'.
'adapting' with letters rearranged gives 'giantpda'.
'a'+'n'='an'
'giantpda' going around 'an' is 'GIANT PANDA'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for giant panda that I've seen before include "Creature" , "temperamental Chinese import" , "Something native to China" , "furry animal" , "Large black and white mammal" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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