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So pandas were omnivores many years ago, then they became herbivores with physical adaptations to eat bamboo, though their guts didn't keep up with the process.
by joshuapants 11y ago
So pandas were omnivores many years ago, then they became herbivores with physical adaptations to eat bamboo, though their guts didn't keep up with the process.
Can pandas still eat meat? Could you, for example, feed a panda in captivity a carnivorous diet with an expectation that it would thrive?
- jarin 11y agoPandas do eat some meat in the wild, they've been seen catching and eating birds and rodents.
- x0054 11y agoWhat about in captivity. Perhaps reintroducing pandas to a meat diet would solve a lot of pandas' problems.
- joshuapants 11y agoThat's what I'm curious about. I don't presume to know better than zoologists, so maybe this has been tried and/or rejected for reasons I don't know about but it seems that it could help. Maybe wild pandas will cease to be, but it may be possible that a diet adjustment could at least keep a population viable in captivity.
- Houshalter 11y agoWell they have been eating bamboo for 2 million years according to the article. While they are not completely adapted, they have probably made at least some adaptions. So a meat diet may not be optimal. This is similar to humans. Our diet has changed a great deal in recent evolutionary history. E.g. eating cooked meat, or large amounts of processed grains. But that's not quite as severe as switching to eating bamboo.