Pandas are indeed classified as herbivores, specifically folivores, meaning their diet primarily consists of leaves. The giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), which is native to China, is particularly famous for its unique dietary habits. While they belong to the order Carnivora, which includes many meat-eating animals, giant pandas have adapted to a largely plant-based diet over millions of years (The Evolution of Diet of Giant Pandas).
The primary food source for giant pandas is bamboo, which constitutes about 99% of their diet. They consume various species of bamboo, including common types like moso bamboo and black bamboo (What Kind of Bamboo Do Giant Pandas Like to Eat?). Pandas are known to eat an impressive amount of bamboo daily – ranging from 20 to 40 pounds (9 to 18 kilograms). This high consumption rate is necessary due to bamboo’s low nutritional value; pandas need to eat large quantities to meet their energy requirements.
The adaptation to a bamboo diet has led to some fascinating physiological traits in pandas. Their digestive system is similar to that of carnivores, lacking the complex stomach structure that many herbivores have, which helps in digesting fibrous plant material. Instead, pandas have a simple stomach and relatively short intestines, which means they do not efficiently extract nutrients from bamboo. To compensate, their bodies have adapted to processing and consuming vast amounts of this plant each day.
Pandas are also known to occasionally eat other plant materials, such as fruits, vegetables, and occasionally small mammals or carrion, but these make up a minimal part of their diet. In captivity, they may be fed a more varied diet, including specially formulated panda cakes, fruits, and vegetables, to ensure they receive adequate nutrition.
