Giant Panda: Interesting and Fun Facts About Pandas Eat, Sleep and Repeat!

If you have been inquisitive about giant and peaceful panda bears, we are here with all the interesting facts about pandas. Pandas are one of the most beloved bears and are a symbol of species conservation, all due to their calm and harmonious nature. 

Let's find out some details to give you deeper insights into pandas, such as where do pandas live, what do pandas eat, and so on. Also, we have exclusively covered some fun facts about pandas to help you become better acquainted with them. 

Giant Panda Facts Overview 

 Giant Pandas (or Ailuropoda melanoleuca, i.e., black and white cat foot) are calm bears famous for their love of bamboo. Before getting into the nitty-gritty details of Pandas and knowing what do pandas eat or where do pandas live, let's glance and find the primary highlights. 

What Do Pandas Eat?

Pandas love eating bamboo shoots, roots, stems, and leaves. Occasionally, they eat other vegetation, fish, eggs, small mammals, and carrion, but bamboo accounts for 99 percent of their diets, approximately 12 to 20 kilograms of bamboo in a day. Pandas eat fast, a lot, and spend about 12 hours a day eating. They must eat roughly 26 to 84 pounds of bamboo daily, depending on what part of the bamboo they eat. Pandas are also known to search in farmland for kidney beans, pumpkin, wheat, and domestic pig food.

Where do Pandas Live?

Giant pandas usually live in a few mountain ranges and bamboo forests in south-central China, in Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Gansu provinces. The only natural habitat for giant pandas worldwide is in southwestern China. Earlier, pandas lived in lowland areas, but farming, forest clearing, and other developments now restrict giant pandas to the mountains. Pandas are mainly in temperate forests high in the mountains of southwest China, where they exist almost entirely on bamboo.

Interesting Facts About Pandas

 Here are some more interesting facts about pandas to help you know them better. 

 1. Pandas spend maximum hours of their day eating 

 Giant pandas feed approximately 10-16 hours daily, mainly on bamboo. Bamboos have low protein and high lignin and cellulose, and giant pandas can only digest about an average of 17% of dry matter. So pandas must eat up to 15 percent of their body weight in 12 hours to survive and remain healthy. A scarcity of bamboo, therefore, threatens the vulnerable panda population.

 2. Pandas lend a helping hand

 Pandas have an extended and enlarged wrist bone that can be used as an opposable thumb to grip food and hold bamboo stems as they eat. Its dexterity also makes them good climbers and swimmers. In fact, some pandas have been recorded to climb as high as 13,000 feet. 

 3. Panda cubs are quite protected

 Mother pandas keep contact with their cub nearly all the time during their first month, with the cub resting on her front and remaining covered by her paw, arm, or head. Cubs usually stay with their mothers for 1.5 years before venturing off on their own!

 4. Pandas communicate via scent-marking

 Giant Pandas use a system of traditional communal scent mark stations. They strive to learn and discover trusted locations and areas they can visit to deposit signals and investigate the ones left by other creatures. Pandas climb a tree backward with their hind feet, effectively doing a handstand to urinate and mark their scent. 

 5. Pandas defecate over 100 times in a day

 The giant pandas eat approximately 15% of their body weight, i.e., about an average of 12.5kg of bamboo daily. Based on significant amounts of fiber in their diets, giant pandas defecate regularly throughout the day. The species must also ingest at least two different bamboo species within its habitat range or face starvation. 

6. All giant pandas worldwide are Chinese citizens

Giant pandas are a Chinese national treasure and are protected by law. If you see a panda in a reserve or zoo anywhere in the world, it is actually on loan from China. Each time a panda cub is born, it is sent back to China to assist in expanding the giant panda gene pool.

 7. Pandas looks help them camouflage in their habitat

 Pandas' black and white coats help them camouflage, whereas white coats help them hide in snowy mountains and habitats. The arms and legs are black, allowing them to blend into the forest's shadows. 

Fun Facts About Pandas 

 Here are more fun facts about Pandas to help you know more cute and cuddly details of the appealing creature. 

• A panda year is equivalent to three human years
• Pandas can live twice as long in captivity than in the wild
• Pandas have six fingers 
• Pandas like climbing trees and can swim
• Pandas are lazy loners who like to eat, sleep, and repeat this cycle
• Pandas' reproductive cycle is a tad on the slow side, making them vulnerable
• Pandas used to eat meat like goat
• Pandas do not take a winter nap
• China rents giant pandas to American zoos  
• Pandas have an extensive repertoire
• The male panda has a more comprehensive range than the female panda 

 Pandas are vulnerable. While you cannot pet them, you can always get them in your daily stuff, like smartphone cases, stuffed toys, jewelry, hoodies, pet costumes, and so much more. Pandadorf.com ensures you never run out of your love for pandas by offering a premium collection of Panda accessories and clothing at a single click. You can visit the site and pick the panda style that best meets your needs.