Panda Updates – Wednesday, May 29

Just as quickly as shoot season arrived, it is officially over. Bamboo shoots are seasonal, arriving in the spring/early summer, and we fed the giant pandas the last of our supply a few days ago. We have begun offering mature bamboo again, more specifically a species called yellow groove (Phyllostachys aureosulcata). The pandas are slowly but surely realizing we have no shoots to offer, and have gone back to culming and leafing the mature pieces of yellow groove we are giving them. This period of transition is expected each year, and is something we all prepare for. Here in Georgia, there are about 200 species of bamboo that grow abundantly, but the giant pandas seem to favor about eight of those species. Before shoot season we were offering Henon bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra Henon) so we switched it up and are offering yellow groove because it is something they haven’t had in a while. The novelty of the new bamboo type is working in our favor, and they’re back to crunching away between naps. 
Danica W.
Keeper II, Mammals

(photo courtesy of Danica W.)