🐾 What Do Red Pandas Eat? A Bamboo Lover with a Carnivore’s Gut

Red pandas look like foxes, live like raccoons, and eat like herbivores—but their biology is full of surprises. Though they’re classified as carnivores, their diet is mostly made of plants!

So what exactly do red pandas eat? Let’s take a closer look at their unique diet.

1. Bamboo Is Their Main Food… But Not All of It 🎋

More than 85–95% of a wild red panda’s diet is bamboo.
They mostly eat:

• Young bamboo leaves

• Tender shoots

• Occasionally bark or stems

Unlike giant pandas, red pandas use their wrist bone like a thumb to help grip and strip bamboo—super effective for a little climber.

2. But Their Digestive System Was Built for Meat 😲

Red pandas are classified as carnivores, but they have adapted to a nearly vegetarian diet.

• They can’t digest cellulose efficiently, so they eat large amounts of bamboo daily

• They need to spend 10–13 hours a day foraging and eating

• Their digestive system is more similar to a dog’s than to a deer’s

In other words: They eat plants, but their body still functions like a carnivore’s.

3. They Supplement with Other Foods When They Can 🍎🍯🪲

In the wild, red pandas will also eat:

• Fruits (berries, apples)

• Mushrooms

• Bird eggs

• Small insects or larvae

• Leaves from other plants

In zoos, their diets often include:

• Special herbivore biscuits

• Grapes, bananas, apples

• Cooked sweet potato

These extras help meet their nutritional needs in ways bamboo alone can’t.

4. Red Panda Feeding Behavior

• Red pandas are most active at dawn and dusk—they prefer to eat in peace

• They are excellent climbers and often forage in trees

• They sit upright like little bears and use their front paws to bring food to their mouths—adorable and efficient!