Panda Day: Giant Pandas Being Relatable AF

This is a great time of year for giant pandas: this past week was National Panda Day, and we're just about to enter the very short giant panda mating season! Pandas are known for being big, fluffy, and incredibly lazy--and we think that makes them totally relatable. Pandas don't do much but eat throughout their day, mostly because they eat only bamboo and almost nothing else…and they eat an absolute ton of it. But since they're so big and their jaws are so strong, they don't have much to fear from predators, so it's okay that they don't move around a lot.

That being said, pandas' lives aren't entirely free from threat--sadly, deforestation and human influence is encroaching on their habitat. Pandas are native to China and exist almost entirely within China's bamboo forests even today. Their diet and energy levels make it hard for them to migrate anywhere else. However, the situation isn't entirely dire--conservationists recently found that their estimates of panda populations were inaccurate up until a few years ago and now believe there are 1,000 more pandas living in the wild than previously thought! So to celebrate that and this exciting panda time, please enjoy this collection of photos of the most relatable pandas!

Posted by armchaircomedian

1
Loving their junk food

Pandas eat an absolutely wild amount of bamboo per day--and almost nothing else. They have to, because bamboo has very little nutrition so they must eat a ton of it to get enough nutrients to live. They have special teeth and a reinforced jaw that help them munch away on the hard stocks. Some scientists also believe that pandas get a dopamine hit when they eat bamboo, kind of like we do when we eat sugar or fat. So pandas basically eat pounds and pounds of junk food all the time…what a life!

Via u/usheikh121
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2
The laziest breeders

We're actually just about to enter the peak panda breeding season, which only lasts a few weeks a year. That might be okay--but as it turns out, each female is only in heat for between 24-72 hours a year. That's part of why it's so hard for pandas to mate--most of the time, they just can't be bothered. And with so much of their time spent consuming enough bamboo to live, who can blame them? Luckily, scientists are learning more and having more success with keeping the species going.

Via The Christian Science Monitor
3
Pandas are introverts

Pandas communicate by vocalizing, but also by marking where they've been by clawing trees and…uh… spraying urine (yeah, really). However, pandas are generally solitary and don't interact very much with other pandas. Babies stay with their mothers for longer than other species because they need lots more milk than others to grow big and strong (since bamboo has so few nutrients).

Via u/amandanext
4
Panda facepalm

Pandas are revered the world over--so much so that one of their natural habitats, a series of sanctuaries in Sichuan, China, was declared an UNESCO World Heritage site! Their population seems to be rising and in 2016 they were taken off the "endangered" list and moved to the "vulnerable species" category.

Via u/WolfGuard_
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5
Red Panda hanging around

Via u/erikgeee
6
Too tired to walk

Via u/yummie4mytummie
7
When you don't want mom to leave you at school

Via u/angrykoalie
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8
Happy about some lunch!

Via u/FeelMaFist
9
Sitting and monching with friends

Via u/mikael_perhirin
10
Playing in the snow

Via u/mikael_perhirin
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11
Flopping after a hard day

Via u/verywack
12
Just being a goof

Via u/MrBonelessPizza24