What Do Pandas Eat (Other Than Bamboo)?

Think of pandas as the world's most dedicated salad eaters. More than 99 percent of their diet is bamboo, and they chow down on about 26 to 84 pounds (12 to 38 kg) of it daily. That’s like eating hundreds of heads of lettuce every day.

They consume different bamboo species, and their favorites include arrow bamboo, black bamboo and water bamboo. Whether it’s bamboo shoots, bamboo leaves or stalks, pandas aren't picky — so long as it's bamboo.

Interestingly, despite their plant-based diet, their digestive system is still built like a carnivore's, meaning they don’t fully digest bamboo efficiently.

They make up for it by eating a ton of it, spending up to 14 hours a day chowing down. Scientists have compared their eating habits to a conveyor belt: Food in, food out, repeat.

While pandas are 99 percent committed to their bamboo obsession, they do sometimes snack on other plants like fruits and grasses.

And yes, these "vegetarian" bears occasionally indulge in live prey, like small rodents or birds. However, this makes up just a tiny fraction of a panda's diet — kind of like how some vegetarians occasionally eat fish.

In captivity, zoos provide pandas with supplementary foods like fruits, carrots and high-fiber biscuits to make sure they get all the nutrients they need.

Imagine trying to eat raw celery all day, every day. That’s what eating bamboo is like for pandas.

To make it easier, they have a secret weapon: an enlarged wrist bone that works like a "pseudo-thumb," letting them grip and strip bamboo with precision. Their powerful jaws and strong molars help grind it down, making up for their carnivore-style digestive system that struggles to break it down efficiently.

Newborn giant panda cubs start out drinking their mother’s milk exclusively. At around 6 months, they start experimenting with bamboo — think of it as baby food, panda-style.

By 1 year old, they’re fully committed to the bamboo lifestyle. But because their energy needs are so high and bamboo is so low in nutrients, they have to eat constantly to keep up.

Giant pandas live in the mountainous regions of central China, where dense bamboo forests provide their main food source.

Unlike other members of the bear family, pandas don’t hibernate. Why? Because bamboo doesn’t offer enough fat or energy for them to bulk up and sleep through winter.

Instead, they migrate to lower elevations to find fresh bamboo growth when needed.

Even though they look a bit clumsy, pandas are surprisingly agile. They’re good swimmers and can easily cross rivers if needed. They’re also excellent climbers, sometimes seen scaling trees to escape predators or just to nap on a comfy branch.

We created this article in conjunction with AI technology, then made sure it was fact-checked and edited by a HowStuffWorks editor.