The giant panda has an insatiable appetite for bamboo. A typical animal eats half the day�a full 12 out of every 24 hours�and relieves itself dozens of times a day. It takes 28 pounds (12.5 kilograms) of bamboo to satisfy a giant panda's daily dietary needs, and it hungrily plucks the stalks with elongated wrist bones that function rather like thumbs. Pandas will sometimes eat birds or rodents as well.Newborn pandas average about 3.7 ounces, while adults are 175 to 275 pounds.
Giant pandas live to be 18 to 20 years old in the wild but have lived to more than 30 in captivity.
Bamboo makes up 99 percent of a wild giant panda's diet.
Adult pandas in the wild ingest about 28 pounds of fresh bamboo per day--more than 10,000 pounds a year.
Giant pandas are usually active in the morning and evening and spend most of their time foraging.
Giant pandas are solitary animals. In the wild, males and females occupy overlapping home ranges.
The giant panda's primary communication mode is scent. Each panda has its own scent and can identify the individual scents of others. Pandas rub against trees to leave their scent markings.
Adult pandas produce 11 distinct sounds, such as chirps to promote social contact, honks to indicate mild distress and barks to indicate aggression.
Pandas
The panda, also known as the giant panda to distinguish it from the unrelated red panda, is a bear native to central-western and south western China.
