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Vegetarian Diet
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Many think the giant panda only eats bamboo, but it will eat a variety of plants, including berries, fruit, flowers, grass as well as bark, bird's eggs and insects. It also eats flowers such as crocuses and irises. But mainly, it eats different types of bamboo.
Giant Panda Eats Some Meat
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The giant panda also eats some meat, as it will catch fish, small birds and rodents, but does not eat enough meat to live on, so it depends on the plant life.
How the Panda Eats
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The giant panda has powerful jaws. He was meant to eat meat, so the molar and premolar teeth are designed to tear the meat. The panda uses them to slice and crush the bamboo stems. The panda pulls down the bamboo stalk and bites if off. He then strips off the tough outside and eats the softer inside.
How Much Does the Panda Eat
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Bamboo does not contain as much nutrition as meat, so the panda has to eat between 22 and 44 pounds a day. He spends up to 16 hours of his day just eating. But since his digestive system does not process the bamboo properly, he only gets the equivalent of an hour's intake
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Giant Panda Eating Habits
The giant panda is bit of a paradox. It is classified as a carnivore, but its diet is 99 percent vegetarian. The panda's digestive system resembles a carnivore's as it is a short digestive track, but that does not suit the vegetation that the panda consumes. The panda's intestines are too short to properly digest bamboo. The reason for this is that over time, the food supply changed and the panda had less meat to eat, so it started eating bamboo. The panda evolved, but its digestive system did not.