Chemical analysis of marks is consistent with a difference in function for males and females. The gland is rubbed against trees, rocks, and clumps of grass, with scent conveying information on identity, sex, and possibly social status of the marking individual. A large scent gland located just below the tail and surrounding the anus is used to leave olfactory messages for other pandas. Under this arrangement scent functions in regulating contact between individuals. Each animal confines its activities to a range of about 4 to 6 square km (1.5 to 2.3 square miles), but these home ranges often overlap substantially. The giant panda’s solitary nature is underscored by its reliance on its sense of smell (olfaction). Bamboo is the healthier diet for captive pandas. The species cannot naturally survive outside bamboo forests, though in captivity they have been maintained on cereals, milk, and garden fruits and vegetables. Although unable to capture prey, pandas retain a taste for meat, which is used as bait to capture them for radio collaring and has made them pests in human camps on occasion. Fossilized dental remains indicate that the giant panda committed to bamboo as its principal food source at least three million years ago. As much as 16 out of every 24 hours is spent feeding, and elimination of wastes occurs up to 50 times per day. Pandas solve this problem by rapidly passing prodigious quantities of the grass through their digestive tracts on a daily basis. Despite adaptations in the forepaws, teeth, and jaws for bamboo consumption, the giant panda has retained the digestive system of its carnivore ancestry and is therefore unable to digest cellulose, a main constituent of bamboo. SpaceNext50 Britannica presents SpaceNext50, From the race to the Moon to space stewardship, we explore a wide range of subjects that feed our curiosity about space!Īs much as 90–98 percent of the panda’s diet consists of the leaves, shoots, and stems of bamboo, a large grass available year-round in much of China’s forested regions. Learn about the major environmental problems facing our planet and what can be done about them!
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