Panda Updates – Wednesday, October 16

Just a quick update from PandaLand today! As you all know, we are always on the lookout for ways to make the pandas’ day. Giant pandas eat bamboo, of course, but there is a surprising amount of difference between bamboo species, and the pandas have quite refined palates! Because of this, we like to offer new species of bamboo every once in a while to keep things interesting. The giant pandas have been primarily eating yellow groove bamboo lately, notable for the yellow groove along the bamboo culm. We’ve also offered some henon, which has light-colored culms and branches that splay out all over the place, but the novelty of henon had worn off. Yesterday we decided to try a type of bamboo the pandas haven’t had in a while: rubro. Rubro looks a lot like yellow groove, minus the groove, but has a particular smell we haven’t quite placed – it’s almost like a pine tree! We offered it to the pandas overnight and came in this morning to evaluate how they liked it. So far, so good! They seem to have enjoyed the rubro, so we’ll keep offering it until they let us know it’s time for something else!
Michelle E.
Keeper III, Mammals