How Do Giant Pandas Move?
The giant panda uses its four strong, stocky limbs to move between the many sources of bamboo, which they need to maintain their weight and health. Pandas live in mountainous country and are adept at climbing and covering large distances as they patrol their territories, search out new food sources and try to attract mates.
Pandas are primarily quadrupedal because it is the easiest way to carry their great weight over the long distances they must traverse. They can rise up onto their hind legs for short periods in order to reach higher shoots of bamboo.
Pandas mostly move about on their own. Young pandas may travel with their mothers for several years before striking out to find territory of their own, and pandas sometimes come together to visit with one another as well as during their brief mating seasons.
Infant pandas cannot move at all for quite some time. They are born small, blind and helpless and develop slowly under their mother’s care, eventually opening their eyes and learning to forage for themselves. Pandas do not gain the ability to walk until 3 months of age at a minimum, an unusually long time to remain immobile for a placental mammal.
