# What Do Giant Pandas Eat?

> Giant pandas eat almost entirely bamboo — typically 12–38 kg a day — with a carnivore gut and a wrist-bone “thumb.” Never feed wild pandas.

- **Species:** Giant Panda (*Ailuropoda melanoleuca*)
- **Conservation status:** Vulnerable
- **Diet:** Herbivore (almost entirely bamboo)
- **Habitat:** Temperate mountain forests of central China
- **Lifespan:** ~20 years in the wild
- **Canonical HTML:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/giant-panda/what-do-giant-panda-eat/
- **Parent profile:** https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/giant-panda/
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-07-16

## Quick answer

The giant panda is a bear native to the mountain forests of central China that eats almost nothing but bamboo. Despite being a carnivore by classification, it spends up to 14 hours a day eating bamboo. Thanks to major conservation efforts, it was downgraded from Endangered to Vulnerable in 2016. Wild pandas live around 20 years.

## Who should skip this page

Skip this if you need a captive feeding plan from a veterinarian. This page is wild diet, not a pet-care sheet.

## A bear that eats bamboo

Although classified as a carnivore, the giant panda's diet is about 99% bamboo. Because bamboo is low in nutrients, pandas must eat enormous quantities, between 12 and 38 kg per day, and spend much of their waking life feeding.

## Help protect the Giant Panda

The giant panda's recovery is real but fragile, and still depends on protecting fragmented bamboo forest.

[Donate to habitat protection](https://worldanimalrescuenetwork.org/appeals/habitats/)

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Source: Global Animal Guide (https://globalanimalguide.org/animals/giant-panda/what-do-giant-panda-eat/). Licensed CC BY-NC 4.0 — free for non-commercial reuse with attribution.