Why do giant pandas eat bamboo? No eat meat?
Giant pandas are one of the cutest animals in the world. They are also China's national treasure and a world-class protected wild animal. As a unique and precious species, the eating habits of giant pandas always attract people's attention. They are also members of the Ursidae family. Other bears are accustomed to eating meat. Why do giant pandas habitually eat bamboo? This is a question worth exploring.
The past and present lives of "Children of the Bamboo Forest"
Giant pandas were once omnivores, originally carnivores, and evolved into carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores estimated to be about 7.5 million years ago. However, due to factors such as climate change, habitat destruction, and human activities, giant pandas have gradually adapted to Bamboo is the main food. Bamboo is the plant with the most abundant food resources that giant pandas can obtain in the wild. However, bamboo is relatively low in nutrients, so giant pandas need to consume a lot of energy to maintain body functions. Therefore, they eat a lot, and need to eat more than 30 kilograms of bamboo every day. Slowly evolved into a single feeding habit.
Miraculous and unique digestive system
First of all, giant pandas have large stomachs. Due to the high fiber content of bamboo, it cannot be digested by humans, dogs and other animals. Therefore, giant pandas have to eat a lot of bamboo to obtain sufficient nutrients. In addition, the stomach wall of giant pandas has a very thick muscle layer, which is conducive to the digestion of thick fibrous materials such as bamboo leaves and bamboo stems with thick gastric juice. At the same time, the stomach of the giant panda is divided into two parts, namely the esophagus and stomach densely covered with hyphae and the short and strong intestines and stomach. The structure of these two parts of the stomach can maintain the retention of bamboo for a longer period of time and promote the growth of bacterial flora. The bacterial flora can Assists giant pandas in digestion.
Furthermore, the intestines of giant pandas also have many adaptive structures, such as the long and narrow small intestine, which can absorb nutrients of smaller molecules. As the chewed bamboo passes through the large intestine, the panda can again extract the nutrients produced by the bacterial community and absorb them. Moreover, the large intestine of giant pandas is also relatively long, which is more conducive to retaining some undigested fiber so that these nutrients can be digested and absorbed again.
There are many kinds of delicious food, but do you only like bamboo?
First of all, bamboo is an important plant resource worldwide, especially in Asia, where bamboo is widely distributed. Bamboo is widely distributed in the habitat of giant pandas, which makes bamboo one of the most suitable food resources for giant pandas.
Strictly speaking, bamboo is not an ideal food nutritionally because it contains high amounts of indigestible fiber.
Giant pandas only eat bamboo because of the special adaptability of their digestive systems. Its intestine is shorter than other bears, reducing the volume of its belly. At the same time, the giant panda is an E. coli fermenting animal, and its intestinal microorganisms can process a large amount of cellulose, and the cellulose contained in bamboo It has a high content of hemicellulose and hemicellulose, and also contains a small amount of protein and fat, which is very suitable for the gastrointestinal digestion and absorption of giant pandas. At the same time, it contains some trace elements and natural compounds, such as silicon and rutin, which help giant pandas maintain health and resist disease, so it is an ideal food for giant pandas.
Is "picky" the giant panda?
Giant pandas prefer to eat young shoots and bamboo leaves with higher water content, rather than older leaves. Moreover, depending on the season and geographical location, the types of bamboo eaten by giant pandas also vary.
According to statistics, there are more than 1,200 types of bamboo, and giant pandas only like to eat more than 30 of them. Among them, Sichuan bamboo, arrow bamboo, moso bamboo, etc. are one of their foods. In addition to containing more water, these bamboos also contain less of Mengzong bambooate, an ingredient that reduces the flavor of bamboo while also alleviating indigestion in giant pandas.
Adult giant pandas need a large amount of bamboo as food every day, and can eat about 12-38 kilograms. You know, we ordinary people only eat 1.2-2.5 kilograms of food a day, and the food intake of giant pandas can reach 15 times that of humans! In addition, in addition to eating bamboo, giant pandas living in the wild also eat small amounts of wild fruits and insects.
Not enough of the most precious pandas are left, facing a huge crisis
According to the latest statistics, the number of giant pandas in China has reached about 2,286 in 2023. Compared with the last national giant panda survey data, this number has only increased by about 420.
The current scarcity of giant pandas is due to many factors, including deforestation, low reproduction rates, habitat destruction by human activities, climate change, etc. Among them, the destruction of giant panda habitats by human activities is the main reason for the decline in the number of giant pandas. Due to urban expansion and agricultural development, forest area and quality have been severely affected, destroying the habitat of giant pandas. In addition, the birth rate of giant pandas is also very low, and annual reproduction is extremely limited, mostly due to habitat loss and food shortages.
In order to protect giant pandas, many wildlife conservation organizations and governments have taken a series of actions, such as establishing protected areas, strengthening monitoring and research, promoting breeding and conservation, etc. As a result of these efforts, the number of giant pandas has increased.