How red pandas became vegetarians (12 photos)

Red pandas prefer plant foods, in which bamboo accounts for more than 90% of the diet. However, how did they get to such a life?





Red pandas would be the perfect symbol of vegetarianism. So perfect that it’s even surprising how no one has thought of it yet? After all, this cute bamboo eater is, according to taxonomy, a natural predator! Its relatives are canines, mustelids, walruses and other fanged-toothed animals. If this cutie managed to switch from meat to leaves, so can you! At least it seems so until you understand the situation.



According to scientists, protein foods make up less than 5% of all food consumed by red pandas. 95% - leaves and shoots of bamboo. The animal switched to a green diet not for ethical reasons. He was simply too lazy to hunt! There is a lot of bamboo, it grows quickly, and does not resist while eating. Zero energy costs! In addition, in the Himalayan mountains there are entire plantations of bamboo. Simply because no one eats it.





On the one hand, this is a huge plus. The fewer hungry mouths there are for your food source, the more you will get. On the other hand, even herbivores ignore bamboo. And not without reason!



Pandas often consume food with their front paws. Because of this, sometimes they look about the same as us in front of the refrigerator at three in the morning.

Its energy value is so low that it is impossible to get enough of it! For 100 grams of young bamboo there are 91 grams of water! Nutrients such as fats, proteins and carbohydrates - a total of no more than 8 grams! This is the same as if you ate only cucumbers throughout your life.



As a result, the baby panda eats up to 4 (!) kilograms of fresh bamboo shoots every day! Domestic cats, for example, need only 200-300 grams of meat to be satisfied for the whole day. At the same time, both cats and pandas weigh the same: about 4-7 kilograms of live wool weight. 4 kilos versus 300 grams - do you feel that vegetarianism no longer seems like a good idea?



This is true. By choosing the path of a cute herbivore, pandas paid with their time. The digestive tract of carnivores is not adapted to effectively digest leaves and grass. To get at least some useful substances, animals have to chew a lot. And spend a lot of time on it - up to 13 hours a day! Moreover, of all the things that pandas eat, they digest protein best!



We woke up, tumbled, stretched, smiled. How do you start your day?

But even so, cuties cannot provide their bodies with enough energy during the cold weather. As soon as the ambient temperature drops, pandas wrap themselves in a fluffy tail and go half asleep.



We only dream of delicious chicken...

So that no one disturbs the animal while it sleeps, they make a nest in the trees. Pandas climb even better than cats! If it becomes completely frosty, the woolly ones completely hibernate. In this case, the body is put on a specific pause - even pregnancy stops!



Unlike cats, red pandas will never get stuck in trees! Because they know how to climb upside down. The joints of the paws turn in different directions, thanks to which the animal calmly moves even along thin branches.

Depending on weather conditions, panda mothers carry babies from 90 to 145 days. Pandyas should be born only in the best conditions - in spring or early summer. Otherwise, neither mother nor child will survive the season. For the first three months, babies are completely dependent on their mother. Afterwards they begin to learn to live independently. But at the same time, they are in no hurry to move out of the parental territory: sometimes the pups stay with the female for a whole year until she gives birth to new offspring.



If you thought nothing could be cuter than a red panda, look at her cub!

By the way, during the mating season, the red panda still bares its teeth like a real predator. Males fight fiercely for a female who is ready to breed. She is ready for “this very thing” only one day a couple of times a year. Yes, I know their fight looks like a fight between stuffed animals. Plush pugs and paws, it seems, cannot be dangerous. Only the mouth on the cute face still remains fanged. And soft paws hide semi-retractable sharp claws. Outside of battle, they help animals climb trees.



To prevent things from getting to the point of assault, the animals try to intimidate the opponent. They stand on their hind legs, raise their front legs and try to appear larger than they really are. Looks super adorable!

What is the moral? You can't change yourself! If you are a predator by nature, you will remain one even if you chew grass 24/7.



Phew, that's it, bye, meat-eaters...How I envy you...