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Panda hiding behind a tree
© Richard Barrett / WWF-UK

1. Pandas have excellent camouflage for their habitat

The giant panda's distinct black-and-white markings have two functions: camouflage and communication. Most of the panda - its face, neck, belly, rump - is white to help it hide in snowy habitats. The arms and legs are black, helping it to hide in shade. 

2. Their eyes are different to normal bears

Like domestic cats, giant panda bears have vertical slits for pupils.

Giant panda © WWF China / Yong Yange
© WWF China / Yong Yange

3. Cubs are well protected in their first month

Mother pandas keep contact with their cub nearly 100% of the time during their first month - with the cub resting on her front and remaining covered by her paw, arm or head. 

Juvenile giant panda climbing
© naturepl.com / Pete Oxford / WWF

4. Pandas can swim and even climb trees

Giant pandas are good swimmers and excellent tree climbers. At 5 months old, giant panda cubs learn how to climb - sometimes practising by climbing on their mum. 

Portrait of a giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca ). Bifengxia Panda Base, Sichuan. China © Richard Barrett / WWF-UK
© Richard Barrett / WWF-UK

5. A helping hand

They have an extended wrist bone that they use like a thumb to help them grip food.

Giant panda eating Bamboo
© Sharon Fisher

6. They spend a lot of their day eating

Giant pandas spend 10-16 hours a day feeding, mainly on bamboo. 

 

Giant panda eating bamboo
© Richard Barrett / WWF-UK

7. Bamboo is critical to their diet

Pandas need at least 2 different bamboo species in their range to avoid starvation

Giant Panda Zhen Zhen visiting the Panda Research Camp Wuyipang, China
© George B. Schaller / WWF

8. But they do occasionally eat something other than bamboo

A panda’s diet is 99% vegetarian, which mostly includes bamboo roots, stems, shoots and leaves. However their digestive system is typical of a carnivore, so the remaining 1% of their diet can include eggs, small animals and carrion. Pandas are also known to forage in farmland for pumpkin, kidney beans, wheat and domestic pig food.

Wild Giant Panda scenting a tree
© Anzihe Nature Reserve/WWF China

9. Pandas sometimes do handstands when they wee!

Sometimes, to mark their scent, panda's climb a tree backwards with their hindfeet until they're in a full handstand upside down - enabling them to leave their scent higher up. 

Giant panda in tree, Wolong Nature Reserve, China.
© Bernard De Wetter / WWF

10. They like to keep it regular

On average, pandas poo 40 times a day.

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© Andy Robert Davies

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