Are you curious to learn some weird and wonderful facts about pandas?
If so, excellent! You are in exactly the right place my friend…
It’s time to chat about panda facts.
Let’s dive right in…
Facts About Pandas
1 – Giant pandas live in bamboo forests and eat around 40kgs a day. Pandas are the only bears that live in trees.
2 – The average panda weighs about 100 pounds.
3 – Pandas are one of the few animals in the world that have a “thumb” but technically it is a false thumb or extra digit. This so-called thumb is actually an abnormally large wrist bone that allows them to grip and handle the bamboo better.
4 – Pandas don’t hibernate, but they do sleep a lot during winter months.
5 – Pandas can’t roar like other bears because their vocal cords don’t allow them to make the same sound.
More Facts About Pandas
6 – Panda cubs are born blind and deaf but they open their eyes after about 10 days.
7 – They spend a lot of time eating bamboo and they have to eat up to 80 pounds per day or more. A panda’s mouth is designed for chewing wood, not meat or vegetables.
8 – Female pandas ovulate only once every two years.
9 – The giant panda has been on Earth for 8-18 million years (this estimate varies) which explains how they have perfectly adapted to their environment.
10 – The giant panda is the national animal of China.
More Facts About Pandas
11 – Panda cubs weigh just 3 ounces when they’re born, but grow up to be 5 feet tall and 200 pounds!
12 – Female pandas are pregnant for 15 months – one of the longest pregnancies in the world. Female pandas give birth to one or two cubs at a time – usually once every two years.
13 – They have an extra layer of fur to protect them from cold weather.
14 – The word “panda” comes from a Nepalese word meaning “to steal.”
15 – A panda’s natural habitat is in China, but they have been found as far west as Afghanistan and as far north as Mongolia.
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16 – The giant panda has an excellent sense of hearing, but its eyesight is very poor.
17 – In captivity, pandas must be given a diet consisting mostly of bamboo; this diet also includes some honey and eggs to provide additional vitamins and minerals.
18 – They have a very low reproductive rate which makes them an endangered species.
19 – Their fur can grow up to 17 inches long!
20 – Pandas are an endangered species. There are fewer than 1,800 pandas left in the wild, and they’re all living in China.
More Facts About Pandas
21 – The panda’s scientific name is “Ailuropoda melanoleuca” which means black-and-white cat foot that walks upright.
22 – They live in mountainous regions with lots of trees that provide protection against predators like leopards or tigers.
23 – Pandas can’t hibernate like other bears because they’re so dependent on their food source – bamboo.
24 – Pandas communicate by rubbing their scent onto objects or by marking territory with urine and faeces.
25 – Baby pandas are called cubs, and they live with their mothers for 18 months before being weaned off milk at 6-8 months old.
BONUS FACTS
Pandas have large front paws that help them grip bamboo shoots so they can eat as much food as possible while out of the forest.
