Pandas are known for their exceptional commitment to bamboo: over 99% of their diet consists of various parts of this plant — shoots, leaves, and stems. An adult animal can eat from 12 to 38 kilograms of bamboo a day, spending up to 14 hours feeding.
Pandas prefer several types of bamboo, including arrow bamboo, black bamboo, and water bamboo. However, despite such a plant-based menu, their digestive system is structured like that of carnivorous animals: they have a short intestine and lack enzymes to break down cellulose. This makes their bamboo diet extremely inefficient in terms of nutrient absorption. Scientists compare the eating habits of pandas to a "conveyor belt," where the main mechanism is continuous eating.
Nevertheless, pandas are not absolute vegetarians. In the wild, they sometimes eat wild grasses, fruits, and may snack on small vertebrates, such as rodents or even birds. Such cases are extremely rare, and animal protein constitutes a negligible part of their diet.
In zoos, the diet of pandas is diversified. They are given carrots, apples, cooked rice, as well as special biscuits high in fiber and vitamins. This is necessary to compensate for the lack of nutrients that arises from a diet consisting solely of bamboo.
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