Forget the bamboo! This giant panda gets his teeth around a dead antelope in the forest in Ping Wu, in Sichuan provinceHe looks like he has been caught out helping himself to a forbidden snack.
And perhaps this panda realises he has given away a secret kept under wraps for years as he is captured red-handed tucking into a dead antelope.
It was previously thought the creatures were strictly herbivores but as this infra-red camera shot taken in Ping Wu, in southwest China's Sichuan province shows, pandas sometimes do prefer a meaty snack.
That's more like it! Yang Guang the panda at Edinburgh Zoo gets his mouth around the more traditional panda snack, bambooAccording to the World Wildlife Fund China pandas have the digestive system of a carnivore and will eat meat if available, but adapted a long time ago to a vegetarian diet.
Because of this carnivorous digestive system the panda derives little energy and protein from consumption of bamboo so must eat as much as 14kg a day to stay healthy.
It has taken millions of years living in bamboo forests for the panda to improve its ability to digest cellulose from bamboo.
source: dailymail
Posts
