While bears are intimidating creatures, pandas are the exact opposite. The black-and-white coated teddy-bear-esque animals are anything but scary and vicious. Pandas are generally considered docile creatures with their adorable looks and mild temperament.
So what weird facts about pandas do you might not know? Now that pandas are no longer endangered, thanks to conservation efforts, we can now appreciate them more. So for interesting and weird facts about pandas, keep reading.
6. Pandas Are Quite Lazy
How would you spend your day if you didn’t have responsibilities? Probably the same way that pandas do. Pandas generally sleep about 12 hours a day.
This is because their main source of food is bamboo, which is very low in protein, but high in lignin and cellulose. The other 12 hours consist of pandas eating, as they need to consume 15% of their body weight to survive and stay healthy.
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5. They Have Six-Digits
Their giant paws aren’t just adorable to look at — they also help pandas immensely. Pandas have “pseudo-thumbs,” or a sixth digit.
The giant pandas’ front paw is made of an extended and enlarged wrist bone that they use like an opposable thumb to help them grip food and hold bamboo stems as they eat. This also helps them with climbing and swimming, as some pandas have been known to climb as high as 13,000 feet.
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4. Pandas Have Excellent Camouflage
When you think of camouflage, you probably think of chameleons or snow foxes. Something that blends in better with its surroundings than a giant bear in black and white fur. You’d be wrong, though, as pandas are excellent at camouflaging for their habitat.
One of the many weird facts about pandas is that their distinct black-and-white markings help them communicate and hide. Most of the panda — its face, neck, belly, and bottom — is white to help hide in the snow. While the rest held them hide in the shade.
Also Read: Weird Facts About Pigs
3. Bamboo Wasn’t Always Their Diet
Did you know that pandas used to eat meat? One of the weird facts about pandas that still shocks us is that they didn’t always eat bamboo. Pandas today will stick to bamboo, as well as eat other vegetation like pumpkin, kidney beans, and wheat. Sometimes today they’ll go for eggs, fish, or small mammals.
But back in the day, pandas were completely omnivorous, eating meat on a regular basis. This changed due to genes more than anything, as well as bamboo being an easy source when they stopped hunting for food.
2. They’re Babies Are Pink
Baby pandas are one of the most adorable things in the world. The squeals can be heard from miles away when someone gets close to a baby panda.
But did you know that they are born pink? They are fur-less, pink, and blind. Their iconic coat of black-and-white starts to grow in fully after about three weeks.
1. While Sleepy, Pandas Don’t Hibernate
Finishing the list of weird facts about pandas, we have an interesting one. Pandas don’t hibernate. While pandas are particularly sleepy, and bears are notorious for hibernating, pandas are once again a wild exception.
In fact, instead of burrowing down when the weather becomes uncomfortable, giant pandas simply find a more comfortable spot to relax and keep eating bamboo.
