By : Heaven Wallace

To help it eat many different types of Bamboo is its 'sixth toe'. The Giant Panda has five regular appendages that humans would consider toes or fingers. It also has a sixth 'thumb' that allows the Giant Panda to grasp Bamboo better for eating. It also helps the Panda pull the shoots and leaves off of Bamboo stems. The Pandas 'thumb' is actually an extension of the wrist bone. It is a very important adaptation for the Panda to be able to eat so much Bamboo

Panda Bear eating bamboo. Panda bears

Many think that the giant panda only eats stems, leaves and fresh new shoots of bamboo, but it will also eat berries, fruit, flowers, fungi, grass, bark, bird's eggs and insects. It also eats flowers like crocuses and irises which grow in its mountain habitat. In the wild it will also catch fish and hunt small birds and rodents, like bamboo rats. This is not enough to live on, though, so it mainly eats various species of bamboo.

The Giant Panda moves on all four legs. It has no heel pad for its feet which is why when you see them walk, they seem like they are flat-footed. Their legs are very strong and muscular because they are always moving, even though they don't move very far. They can run, but they generally move at a slower pace.

●A Panda's daily menu consists almost entirely of the leaves, stems, and shoots of various bamboo species. ●Only about 1% of their diet is made up of other plants and meat. Occasionally the panda will hunt for pikas and other small rodents ●As members of the bear family, giant pandas possess the same digestive system of a carnivore. But they differ in the sense that they have adapted to a vegetarian diet.

Life Span The average life span of the giant panda, in the wild is about 15 years, but in captivity they have been known to live well into their 20's and rarely into their 30's.

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