Giant Panda Trivia

GIANT PANDA TRIVIA

1) How much does a giant panda weigh at birth?

Weighing only 3.2 to 4.6 ounces at birth, the giant panda is proportionally the smallest baby of any placental mammal.

2) What makes up the majority of a giant panda's diet?

CARRION RODENTS WILD TUBERS BAMBOO

Although the giant panda will occasionally eat other grasses, wild tubers, or even meat in the form of birds, rodents, or carrion, it is bamboo shoots and leaves that make up more than 99% of its diet.

3) Which animal family does the giant panda belong to?

HOMINOIDS RACCOONS MARSUPIALS BEARS

For many decades, the precise taxonomic classification of the giant panda was under debate because it shares characteristics with both bears and raccoons. However, molecular studies indicate the giant panda is a true bear, part of the family Ursidae.

4) How many times does a giant panda poop each day?

20 TIMES 10 TIMES 5 TIMES 40 TIMES

The average daily diet of a giant panda consists of 20 to 30 lbs of bamboo. Given this voluminous diet, the giant panda defecates up to 40 times a day.

5) What is a group of pandas called?

CUPBOARD BAMBOO EMARRASSMENT ALL OF THESE

A group of giant pandas can be called a bamboo, an embarrassment, or a cupboard, although cupboard is the official zoological term settled on by the Royal Society after a heated debate in 1866.

6) What kind of memory do giant pandas rely on?

AUDITORY MEMORY VISUAL MEMORY SPATIAL MEMORY VERBAL MEMORY

Spatial memory is an important mechanism for survival in the wild, allowing an animal to find and remember the location of food, mates, den sites and avoid predators.

7) What color is a baby panda?

WHITE PINK BLACK BLUE

When the cub is first born, it is pink, blind, and toothless.

8) How many digits does a panda have on its front paws?

3 5 6 4

A panda's paw has six digits--five fingers and an opposable pseudo-thumb (actually an enlarged wrist bone) it uses to hold bamboo while eating.

9) Who owns the most Giant Pandas?

THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT BEIJING ZOO LONDON ZOO GOLDMAN SACHS

The Chinese government owns nearly all the giant pandas on earth. American zoos will pay up to $1 million a year to rent just one. Most sign 10-year "panda diplomacy" contracts, and if any baby cubs are born, they pay an additional one-time $400,000 baby tax.

10) What year did the first panda come to the United States?

1936 1916 1956 1976

Su Lin was the name given to the giant panda cub captured in 1936 by the explorer Ruth Harkness who returned to America with the bottle-fed cub. In April 1937, the panda was purchased by Brookfield Zoo outside of Chicago, where he was visited by such celebrities as Shirley Temple, Kermit Roosevelt, and Helen Hayes. Harkness brought a second panda, Mei-Mei, to be a companion for Su Lin in February 1938, but the two animals fought and were soon separated. Su Lin died of pneumonia only a few weeks after Mei-Mei's arrival.