The Giant Panda's Bamboo Life

A giant panda holds bamboo using a modified sesamoid bone thumb.

The giant panda is a bear species endemic to China.

Adult giant pandas weigh 100 to 115 kg on average.

Males are typically 10 to 20 percent larger than females.

The Qinling panda subspecies sometimes shows brown and white coloring.

Bamboo makes up approximately 99 percent of the panda diet.

A giant panda eats 9 to 14 kilograms daily.

Eating that much means defecating up to 40 times daily. Busy schedule.

Raw bamboo contains cyanide, but gut microbes help degrade it safely.

The giant panda lives exclusively in six montane regions in China.

Wild giant pandas live at elevations up to 3,000 meters.

Females rear cubs for an average of 18 to 24 months.

The oldest known giant panda reached 38 years of age.

The binomial name Ailuropoda melanoleuca translates to black and white cat-foot.