The giant panda is easily recognizable with its black and white colors, especially the black circles around its eyes. It looks like a chubby bear and is loved by many people. It’s also a symbol for protecting endangered species. Now, let’s explore some cool facts about pandas! 100 Facts About Pandas
Interesting Facts About Pandas
- Pandas munch on bamboo for approximately 12 hours daily.
Even though giant pandas rely completely on bamboo to survive, bamboo isn’t very nutritious. It’s low in protein and has a lot of tough stuff like lignin and cellulose. Plus, pandas can only digest about 17% of the bamboo they eat. Because of this, pandas have to munch on a lot—up to 15% of their body weight in 12 hours—to stay healthy.
- Grown-up pandas can weigh as much as 125 kilograms.
In the wild, boy pandas weigh around 85-125kg, while girl pandas weigh between 70-100kg. Even though adult pandas are big, when they are born, panda cubs weigh only 85-140g.
- One panda year is like three human years.
Pandas age faster than humans. In the wild, they live about 18-20 years, but in captivity, it can be 25-30 years. The oldest panda, Xinxing, lived to be 38 years old, which is like 115 human years.
- Pandas have six “fingers” on their paws!
A panda’s sixth “finger” is similar to a human thumb. Even though it looks like a thumb and has strong muscles, it’s a unique bone near their wrist or the back of their paw. This special feature helps them grab and hold onto food. Pandas use this extra finger to shape bamboo into fat cigars, making it easier for them to eat.
- If a panda has twins, it might leave one of the babies.
In the wild, pandas usually have one baby, but those in captivity may have two. If a wild panda mom has twins, she’ll only take care of the stronger one because baby pandas are quite fragile. Cubs start eating bamboo at about a year old, and until then, they rely completely on their mom. In the wild, it’s tough for the mom to care for two cubs because she might not have enough milk or energy. The cub sticks with its mom until she gets pregnant again, around a year and a half later. If she doesn’t get pregnant, the cub stays with her until it’s two and a half years old.
- Pandas enjoy climbing trees and are good swimmers too.
Big pandas are great at climbing trees, starting when they’re just 7 months old. In the wild, especially when they’re young, pandas climb trees to stay safe from enemies and check out their surroundings. Many pandas even sleep in trees because it’s safer. Sometimes, they just climb to enjoy the view. Despite being bears, like other bears, giant pandas can swim.
- Pandas like to be alone.
Giant pandas are loners. In the wild, they have their own space, and they don’t want other pandas coming in. This is because they eat bamboo and don’t hunt together. If they lived in groups, there could be problems sharing bamboo, and it might be hard for all of them to survive. Each panda usually needs 3–8 square kilometers (1–3 square miles) of bamboo forest just for itself.
- A panda can produce 28 kilograms (62 pounds) of poop every day!
Almost all of a panda’s food, about 99%, is bamboo. However, pandas have a stomach like meat-eaters, and they can only digest a small part of the bamboo, less than 20%. Because bamboo doesn’t have much nutrition, pandas need to eat a lot of it to stay energetic, which means they poop a lot too!
Pandas poop every 15–20 minutes, and most of what comes out is pieces of bamboo that they couldn’t digest. Interestingly, people used to make picture frames and bookmarks from these undigested bamboo pieces, and surprisingly, they didn’t smell bad!
- Meat Eating Pandas
Pandas once ate meat because there were big predators like sabre-tooth tigers. When those predators disappeared, pandas didn’t need to be fast anymore, so they became bamboo experts to survive.
Even though we mostly think of pandas eating bamboo, they also enjoy some fruits and can eat meat.
- Pandas have a mix of black and white fur.
Pandas have black and white fur, which acts like good camouflage. They spend a lot of time searching for bamboo in forests and snowy mountains. The white fur helps them hide in the snow, and the black fur helps them blend into the shadows of the forest, so they can avoid being noticed easily.
- Pandas usually find mates in the spring.
Lady giant pandas are ready to have babies for only a short time each year, around March to May. Their pregnancy lasts about 5 months.
In the wild, girl pandas make special sounds like baa, dog bark, or cow bark when they’re ready to have babies. Boy pandas leave scents to attract girl pandas.
Girls might mate with a few boys, and boys might find different girls to mate with.
After mating, girl and boy pandas go their separate ways, and the mom takes care of building a den and raising the baby on her own.
- Baby pandas are pink.
When baby pandas are born, they weigh just 100 grams, are pink, and can’t see because they’re blind. They get their famous black and white fur after about three weeks.
Pandas usually have babies in August, so if you want to see adorable panda cubs, visit in August!
- There are two kinds of giant pandas.
There are two types of giant pandas: Sichuan pandas and Qinling pandas. Qinling pandas are only about 18.5% of all giant pandas.
The places where they live have different soil, weather, and plants, so Sichuan and Qinling pandas look different – their colors and body shapes vary. Sichuan pandas have a bear-like head, while Qinling pandas have a more cat-like head with a smaller skull and bigger teeth.
Even though they originally came from the same group, a big river and mountains separated them, and human activities made it even harder for them to be together. Scientists think they stopped being in contact about 50,000 years ago and started evolving and reproducing on their own.
