Panda

Feed

ZOO: The Shenshuping Gengda Panda Center (Sichuan, China)

ENCLOSURE TYPE: Imitation of the natural environment

Population

There are only an estimated 1600 pandas in the wild and about 325 in captivity.

Nutrition

Bamboo is indispensable for the big panda, 99% of their food is made up of shoots and leaves of the plant. Bamboo does not have a high nutritional value. And to meet the daily energy requirement, pandas need to eat between 23 and 40 kg of evergreen per day.

Habitat

Bamboo will occasionally «die off» forcing pandas to migrate to other areas to find enough bamboo. Today panda habitat is limited to the mountains in only a few provinces of southwestern China.

Interesting facts

Pandas are slow moving and spend a considerable amount of time eating (16 — 24 hour period) and sleeping. Giant panda fur is coarse, dense and somewhat oily. Their coat keeps them warm in the cool moist climate of the mountain forests.