What makes pandas unique

All rights reserved. Personality Quizzes. Funny Fill-In. Amazing Animals. Weird But True! Party Animals. Try This! Explore More. Giant pandas spend up to 12 hours a day eating bamboo. Common Name: Giant Panda. Scientific Name: Ailuropoda melanoleuca. Type: Mammals. Diet: Omnivore. Ask your parents to check out Nat Geo Kids magazine! Pandas are BIG eaters — every day they fill their tummies for up to 12 hours , shifting up to 12 kilograms of bamboo!

Giant pandas grow to between 1. They are also born blind and only open their eyes six to eight weeks after birth. Recent research, however, suggests that giant pandas occasionally meet outside of breeding season, and communicate with each other through scent marks and calls.

Did you know that we have a FREE downloadable panda primary resource? Great for teachers, homeschoolers and parents alike! However, they have cat-like pupils, so they can still see adequately to move around at night. Giant pandas start to grow permanent teeth as they gradually draw to 7 months old.

Their back teeth are about seven times the size of a human's, with a wide surface area. The powerful jaw bones and strong teeth of giant pandas help them crush and grind bamboo.

Giant pandas' paws have five "fingers" facing forward and one "thumb" — an enlarged bone at the heel of the paw used for gripping bamboo, climbing trees, etc. They weigh up to kg lb in captivity. Females are smaller, weighing up to kg lb in captivity. The bamboos consumed by giant pandas in their current habitats are classified into 40 kinds in 9 genera. Wild giant pandas hunt small animals such as mice once in a while. To ensure ample nutrition, giant pandas in captivity are also fed fruits and well-selected feeds, which are made from corn, soybean, wheat, etc.

When you visit a zoo you will likely find that the pandas are sleeping. Actually it spends half its day eating and the other half sleeping. You may see them lying flat, on one side, on their stomach; forelegs stretched out, or huddled up.

While they are sleeping, they still look very cute. The giant pandas' habitat is in western central China, and the pandas are known as a "national treasure". Travelers come to the panda research bases to see the cute pandas and to take pictures with them. What's more, travelers can experience a volunteer program to take care of them. Not interested in the above tours? You can tailor-make your own unique tour by telling us your interests and requirements.