Giant Panda Facts ~ WildLife-TK

1. A giant panda is much bigger than your teddy bear.

Giant panda looks cuddly and cute when you search for photos on the internet. But it's much bigger than you think.

2. Giant pandas are good at climbing trees and can also swim.

Giant pandas can't stand and do kung fu moves like Po in Kungfu Panda. But they are good tree climbers. They can climb trees from 7 months old.

Giant pandas are bears, and like other bears, they can swim.

3. Pandas go from pink to white and black (or brown).

Pandas are born looking like baby badgers — fur-less, pink, and blind. The iconic black and white colour comes later, after about three weeks.

Not all giant pandas are black and white! A few are brown and white, but these are very rare.

4. Pandas are "lazy" — eating and sleeping make their day.

As about all a panda does all day is to eat and sleep, you are best to get up early for a visit to a panda park, so you see them when they are active.

They spend as long as 14 hours eating per day, and spend the rest of their time in sleeping.

In the wild, the giant pandas sleep for 2 to 4 hours between its two meals.

5. An adult can eat 12–38 kilos of bamboo per day!

A 45-kilo adult (and pandas can reach 150 kg in captivity) spends as long as 14 hours eating. And it can eat 12 to 38 kilos of bamboo a day.

6. You can see panda babies in August.

Pandas are usually born in August, because the panda's mating months are March to May and gestation is 3 to 5 months.