Panda Updates – Monday, March 25

Ever wonder why giant pandas eat sitting down, rather than on all four legs like most other bears do? Well, their unique pseudothumbs not only help them to grasp bamboo, but they also make them much more dexterous than other bears are when eating and consuming food. In their natural habitat, giant pandas will find a bamboo stand, sit down, eat what they can reach, and then relocate to find more food. This is why you see the Panda Care Team set up their bamboo in large piles throughout their habitat. Here you can see that Yang Yang has found a good spot to sit, enjoy his leafeater biscuits and bamboo, and soak in the sunshine. We like to call this the “panda puddle,” thanks to a former intern who thought of the phrase during her time with us a few years ago. 
Danica W.
Keeper II, Mammals
(photo by Danica W.)