The giant panda… what is it?  Belonging to the Ursidae family,
the giant panda is classified amongst the carnivora. Despite
this, they feed exclusively on bamboo shoots, of which they eat
more than 20kg a day! They also spend about 14 hours a day
eating bamboo!  The giant panda is a solitary animal. They can
be active at any time of the day, and dedicate their phases of
activity to searching for bamboo. They are mainly terrestrial,
but are also able to swim, and are excellent climbers, often
taking shelter at the top of trees during periods of rest. They
tend to move relatively slowly and somewhat clumsily. They
prefer to roll using their body weight when they want to move
forwards faster!  Unlike many of the other Ursidae (bears), they
do not hibernate. This is because they not establish a permanent
den and also because they do not receive enough nutrition from
their food to establish large enough fat stores for hibernation.
Instead of hibernating, they move to lower altitudes, where the
temperatures are hig