Panda Updates – Friday, June 23

We offer the giant pandas two different types of leafeater biscuits. One is the original biscuit that Yang Yang and Lun Lun were given when they arrived at Zoo Atlanta in 1999, and is beet-based. This biscuit is a little bit sweet. The other biscuit is low-starch, so it has less sugar and more fiber. Guess which ones the pandas like best?

If you said the sweeter one, you would be correct! Giant pandas definitely have a sweet tooth. However, Xi Lun is a funny little panda! Sometimes she prefers the red leafeater biscuit (beet-based), and sometimes she prefers the brown leafeater biscuit (low-starch). We never know which one she will choose at any given time. She lets us know by refusing the one we offer or if we give her a choice of both, she picks the one she wants at the moment.

Ya Lun will take whatever biscuit she is offered or finds lying around – she’s not picky. Yang Yang and Lun Lun always prefer the beet-based leafeater biscuits, no matter what.
Heather R.
Senior Keeper, Carnivores