Did you know that pandas make snow angels for fun? One scientist even found a place where a panda went sledding down a hill on its stomach. It bellyflopped to the bottom, climbed back up the hill, and did it again!

Yes, scientists would like to know more about wild panda behaviour, but bamboo grows so thick in panda country that it is often impossible for people to get through, even though pandas can. Radio collars are the primary source of information about pandas.

Hunting grounds:

Pandas don’t have to hunt very hard for their meals; everywhere they go in the bamboo forest, they are surrounded by food. Unlike bears or red pandas, giant pandas sit down to eat, stripping away the hard, outer covering of bamboo stalks with their teeth to get to the softer pith inside.

Pandas have ‘thumbs’ that allow them to grab bamboo stalks as tightly as a human would — they are one of the few large animals to have such a tight grasp.

Favourite foods:

When they can get it, pandas will eat meat. They also like honey, grass, vines, roots, and even flowers. But 99 per cent of their diet is bamboo — and a panda can eat more than 10,000 pounds of bamboo in a year. They like the tender shoots and leaves best, but they also eat 1-1/2 inch thick stalks that humans would have trouble breaking with an axe. This is possible because panda teeth are wide and thick — about seven times the size of human teeth — and their thick jawbones and huge cheek muscles can close with tremendous force.

Mama and her cubs:

Panda mothers are about 900 times bigger than their four-ounce newborn babies. Blind and helpless at first, the baby is protected by its mother from predators like leopards and wild dogs. When it is old enough to leave the den, the mother carries it in her teeth, just as a cat would, and by seven months of age, the young panda is romping on its own, scampering around and climbing trees. It will remain with its mother until it is about 18 months old and weighs about 120 pounds. 

Their homes:

Till some of years ago, pandas and the bamboo they eat were found all over western China. Today, primarily because of changes in climate that affect bamboo, pandas are found in much smaller, more isolated areas. The mountains where they live may get more than 50 inches of rain and snow every year — an excellent climate for bamboo, and so for pandas as well. 

Live and let live:

Red light. Giant pandas are seriously endangered — there may be only 1,000 of them left. People encroaching on panda territory is part of the problem, but not the biggest part. The most serious danger may come from the bamboo plants themselves. Each kind of bamboo lives for a certain number of years, flowers, and dies. When it dies, all of that kind of bamboo dies at the same time. This can leave pandas with nothing to eat. People are stepping in to learn all they can to help the giant panda.

Panda points:

• A panda lives in bamboo groves and eats bamboo

• A panda can eat over 10,000 pounds of bamboo a year

• Panda mum is about 900 times bigger than her newborn baby

• A panda will stay with its mum till 18 months of age