Bamboo is pandas' favorite food: more than 99% of their diet is bamboo.
But how much bamboo do pandas eat every day? Apart from bamboo, what do pandas eat? Do pandas eat meat? All the secrets about pandas' diet are revealed in this article.
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- Pandas Eat LOTS of Bamboo
- What Do Pandas Eat Besides Bamboo?
- The Eating Timetable of Pandas
- What Do Baby Pandas Eat?
- What Do Red Pandas Eat?
- FAQs about Giant Pandas' Diet
Pandas Eat LOTS of Bamboo
Pandas like eating arrow bamboo, golden bamboo, and 'water bamboo', along with about 60 other species.
They prefer bamboo roots, shoots, and leaves, especially the juicy and nutritious shoots.
For wild pandas, in spring and summer, they like eating different kinds of bamboo shoots; in autumn, they enjoy the new leaves of bamboo; in winter, their main diet is bamboo roots and leaves.
For captive pandas, keepers offer different types of bamboo depending on the season.
An adult panda needs to eat 23–40 kg (50–90 lb) of bamboo every day. That's because bamboo is low in nutrition, and they can only digest about 17% of it.
What Do Pandas Eat Besides Bamboo?
Pandas also eat small amounts of fruits, vegetables, meat, and even honey. They're still omnivores.
What Does the Keeper Feed the Pandas?
The Pandas' Battle for the AppleKeepers usually offer some carrots and apples (their absolute favorite). Some pandas also enjoy pumpkins. What's more, the panda cakes.
Panda cakes are nutritious steamed buns made from cornmeal, soybeans, rice flour, oats, and calcium supplements. Keepers sometimes also add eggs, beef, fish, or pork to enrich their diet.
However, pandas can only eat a small amount of fruit and honey. Too much sugar isn't good for their digestion.
What Else Do Pandas in the Wild Eat?
Wild pandas also eat grass, wild fruits, insects, and even hunt small mammals like pikas (small mountain rabbit), bamboo rats, and other small rodents.
Though pandas are not very fast, injured and wounded animals are catchable by pandas.
Want to Make a Meal for Pandas?
Our panda volunteers are making panda cakes.You may want to take part in the panda volunteer program in Dujiangyan or Wolong Panda Base (with bamboo planting).
There, you'll get to make panda cakes in all sorts of shapes, chop bamboo, and help clean their enclosures. It's a fun family activity and a great way for kids to learn more about pandas.
- 1-Day Dujiangyan Panda Volunteer Program Tour
- 1-Day Wolong Panda Volunteer Program Tour
- More giant panda tours
Contact us if you have any questions or requirements: we are confident that we can design a panda experience to suit you.
The Eating Timetable of Pandas
Giant pandas spend over 10 hours a day eating and foraging.
Because they have a shorter gut (typical of carnivores), which is not efficient at processing vegetation, they need to keep eating that long to ensure they have enough energy.
A typical panda day goes like this:
- 2–8 am: eating/foraging (6 hours)
- 8–10:30 am: sleeping
- 10:30–11 am: playing
- 11 am–12 pm: eating (1 hour)
- 12–2:30 pm: sleeping
- 2:30–9 pm: eating/foraging (6½ hours)
- 9 pm–2 am: sleeping
Are you ready to visit the lovely pandas? How about following our 2-Week China Essence and Panda Tour, to meet not only pandas, but also discover other highlights of China!
When to See Pandas at Their Most Active
Captive pandas are fed a richer diet and don't have to look for food, so they spend less time eating and more time sleeping.
Normally, captive pandas are fed at 8–10 am and 3–4 pm every day.
So if you want to catch them when they're awake and active rather than sleeping, the best time to visit is during feeding hours.
What Do Baby Pandas Eat?
One-year-old baby pandasBaby pandas only drink their mother's milk until they are six months old.
Then they start eating bamboo, but still drink milk quite often.
Between 1 and 2 years old, bamboo and shoots become their main food. They may still drink milk occasionally, but not very much anymore.
Pandas have very little breast milk. So captive panda cubs are fed milk made from a mixture of milk, powdered milk, and various vitamins.
What Do Red Pandas Eat?
Red pandas are eating pumpkinsRed pandas, more similar to raccoons than bears, are a totally different species from giant pandas.
Red pandas also rely mainly on bamboo, but bamboo only makes up about 70% of their diet. The rest 20-30% comes from fruits, leaves, moss, and even the occasional egg, bug, or tiny reptile.
Moreover, they prefer sweet food like apples and pumpkins more than giant pandas.
FAQs about Giant Pandas' Diet
1. Why Do Pandas Like to Eat Bamboo?
Bamboo is super easy for pandas to get. It grows all over their natural habitat all year long.
Plus, pandas' digestive system and jaw structure are adapted to eating bamboo. So eating too little bamboo can actually mess up their digestion and make them sick. That's why pandas like to eat bamboo.
2. Why Pandas' Diet Changed — from Meat to Bamboo
It is the result of environmental and genetic changes.
About 8 million years ago, pandas were carnivores. Glacial climate changes shrank their habitat to places like Sichuan and made prey hard to find, so their survival became tough.
Luckily for them, bamboo was everywhere, easy to reach. Tender bamboo leaves can also provide protein close to that of meat. Over time, pandas switched to eating bamboo.
Still, don't be fooled by their adorable appearances. Pandas are mighty beasts. Keepers can get bitten, and wild pandas have even attacked livestock. Cute doesn't mean harmless!
3. What Do Pandas Drink?
Pandas drink fresh water from rivers and streams.
Pandas drink water once or twice a day. Because bamboo shoots are more than 60 percent water, pandas can get water while eating bamboo shoots.
In spring, when bamboo shoots are plentiful, they can go without drinking water for a day or two.
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