What do pandas mainly eat, and what is the function of their tails?

The panda is China's national treasure animal. With its adorable appearance and chubby build, it is deeply loved by everyone. Pandas have lived on Earth for at least eight million years. They are a first-class protected animal in China and also an endemic species of China. Their main habitat is the mountainous areas of Sichuan, Gansu, Shaanxi and other places in China. Let's take a look below at what pandas mainly eat and what function their tails serve.

1. What do pandas mainly eat?

The giant panda's main food is bamboo. In zoos, we often see adorable pandas holding bamboo leaves and constantly munching on them. There are many kinds of bamboo, among which Fargesia is a relatively common variety and is also very popular with giant pandas. However, the types of food eaten by giant pandas in different mountain systems differ somewhat. They eat different parts of bamboo and different foods according to seasonal changes. For example, they eat bamboo shoots in spring, bamboo leaves in autumn, and bamboo culms in winter.

Wild giant pandas also eat small animals such as bamboo rats, but this is relatively rare. In fact, giant pandas originally ate mainly meat, and as their living environment changed, they also changed their feeding habits.

The giant panda's food intake is relatively large, because their digestive tract is still the kind used for eating meat. It has not changed into the complex stomach and huge cecum that herbivores use specifically to store food, and it cannot turn cellulose from plants into nutrients. In order to obtain energy, they must eat constantly, eat quickly, and defecate whenever they eat. In spring, they spend nearly a dozen hours a day eating just to maintain their metabolism.

2. What function do pandas' tails serve?

Many people think giant pandas do not have tails. In fact, when a panda has just been born, that is, when its whole body has no fur and it is pink and tender, you can see its short little tail. As time passes, the panda keeps growing, and the tail also degenerates a lot during the growth process, leaving only a little bit and becoming white, which is the tuft of fur we see behind its bottom. Because its tail is pressed tightly against its fat bottom, it is very easy for us to overlook it and think they have no tail. This is also a common trait of bear species. The purpose is to prevent enemies from grabbing their tails during fights. Only by hiding one's weakness can one be stronger.

So what function does the giant panda's tail serve? There are many glands distributed on the panda's tail, which can secrete some odorous gases that can attract the opposite sex for mating, mark their territory, and warn others of the same species.

The above is an introduction to the questions of what food pandas eat and what function their tails serve. We hope it is of some help to you.