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Panda Updates – Wednesday, April 29

It’s the giant pandas’ and Panda Care Team’s favorite time of year: bamboo shoot season! Bamboo shoots are popping up on Zoo grounds, as well as at some of the sites where our Bamboo Team is harvesting. Bamboo shoots look a lot like asparagus coming out of the ground, and they only show up for a short time each spring. They are nutrient dense and the pandas eat the whole thing minus the protective sheath. For that reason, the bamboo shoots fill the pandas up a lot quicker and are way easier for us to clean up in comparison to the bamboo shrapnel that is scattered in the habitats after the pandas enjoy older bamboo growth. Bamboo shoots are juicy, crunchy, and you might have enjoyed bamboo shoots yourself, as they are used in a variety of delicious dishes that originate in Asia. Thanks to shoot season, all of the pandas are putting on a little extra weight and sleeping a little more. If this is what your quarantine routine looks like, don’t fret. The giant pandas are right there with you. 
Danica W.
Keeper II, Mammals
(Check out a video on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter by Danica W.)

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