Giant Panda 's main diet is bamboo, and they are especially fond of bamboo shoots, which are the young shoots of the bamboo. Even though bamboo is their staple food, they are picky eaters depending on the season, type, and part of the plant, so it can be difficult to get them to eat even when you offer it to them. In such cases, having bamboo shoots, which they love, can be a relief.


Giant Panda eating bamboo shoots (from left: Ri Ri, Shin Shin, Xiang Xiang)
Every year around April, the zookeepers search frantically for fresh bamboo shoots growing in the park. They give the pandas bamboo shoots that are larger than the ones we eat, and even if they've grown to the height of a person, they'll usually eat them as long as the skin is still attached (in fact, it's better for the pandas because it increases the amount of edible material).

However, if you wait until the bamboo is big enough to satisfy the pandas before harvesting it, you might miss the timing and before you know it, it has grown into a magnificent bamboo with a "shattered" outer layer...

Furthermore, the plants in the park are maintained through planned thinning and renewal, so you can't just pick anything you want.

So, we asked the facility staff, who manage the zoo's plantings, to give the pandas as many bamboo shoots as possible that could be harvested. They brought us a large quantity of bamboo shoots from all over the zoo, which other staff members could never have managed to collect!

Every year we struggle to find bamboo shoots, but thanks to the facility staff who know the plants in the park inside and out, we were able to get more bamboo shoots than ever before this year. We are currently storing them in the refrigerator and giving them to the pandas as a little treat every day.

Reserved bamboo shoots	Lots of bamboo shoots in the refrigerator

The season for Moso bamboo shoots will soon be over, but other types of bamboo shoots, such as Madake and Tochiku, will start to grow. We hope Giant Panda will continue to enjoy the seasonal flavors and stay healthy.

For more information on how pandas eat bamboo shoots, please see this page.

*Please note that Ueno Zoo respectfully declines donations of animal feed, including bamboo shoots, for hygiene reasons.

(May 11, 2021)