{"id":129798,"date":"2025-08-08T19:12:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-08T19:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/129798\/"},"modified":"2025-08-08T19:12:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-08T19:12:13","slug":"inside-the-san-diego-zoos-bamboo-buffet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/129798\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside the San Diego Zoo\u2019s Bamboo Buffet"},"content":{"rendered":"

Xin Bao, the San Diego Zoo<\/a>\u2019s four-year-old female panda bear, is tearing at bamboo culms, the hollow stalks that make up the plant, swallowing and going back for more while the splintered detritus collects on her fuzzy belly. In the enclosure next door, Yun Chuan<\/a>, the five-year-old male, lies in repose against a wooden platform, chomping bamboo leaves. These pandas consume 30 kilos of the stuff<\/a> each per day. That\u2019s roughly 70 pounds. 140 together. 980 a week. Close to 50,000 pounds a year.<\/p>\n

But you can\u2019t Amazon 25 tons of bamboo or buy it from Target. It must be carefully cultivated. In fact, having an ample bamboo supply is one of the many stipulations the Chinese have for lending out their giant pandas to other countries, a practice known as panda diplomacy. Another is that the bears get AC if it\u2019s over 85 degrees. One must also consider the height of the glass separating them from the humans, the shape of the rocks, the climbability of the trees, the amount of groundcover, the biosecurity of the panda food fridge. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s more, but my favorite is that panda \u201coutputs\u201d must be weighed daily (a measure of health!). Their \u201coutput\u201d\u2014a delicate name for what all that bamboo turns into\u2014is around 12 kilos (26 pounds), the weight of around four average newborn humans. (Coincidentally, this list of demands is eerily similar to the one I make for my dogsitter.)<\/p>\n

\"SanCourtesy of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Four-year-old female panda Xin Bao snacks on bamboo, grown by the zoo.<\/p>\n

San Diego checked off all these to-dos and more to welcome America\u2019s first giant panda pair from China in 21 years<\/a>, a significant sign of cultural bonds and diplomatic ties\u2014both economic and environmental\u2014between the two countries. \u201cWorking together with our international partners to protect this iconic wildlife species,\u201d said Governor Gavin Newsom on the day of the pair\u2019s public debut in August 2024, \u201cwe can achieve remarkable outcomes for conservation and cultural exchange, benefiting our communities and the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n

But all that feel-good stuff would not be possible without the bamboo\u2014in the absence of this massive woody grass foundation, the tower of panda crumbles. There would be no live panda cams or \u201cWelcome to Sunny Pan Diego\u201d merch. For an example of how serious this rule is, the Calgary Zoo had to give back their pandas early<\/a> when, during the pandemic, bamboo shipping failed.<\/p>\n

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San Diego, luckily, would never have that issue, because the zoo\u2019s team started growing the crop themselves way back in 1996 as they prepped for the arrival of the current pair\u2019s predecessors, Bai Yun and Shi Shi<\/a>. That initial 10-year panda loan was extended to 22 years. \u201cBut we always knew they would go home,\u201d says Nicki Boyd, the zoo\u2019s curator of mammals. \u201c[The Chinese] have a strong cultural belief that they want all pandas to pass on Chinese soil.\u201d<\/p>\n

San Diego planned to have more pandas after their departure, but it\u2019s a logistical vortex that can take years to unspool\u2014renegotiating the loan and conservation agreements; securing the moving permits; refurbishing the enclosure; and ironing out vital research priorities<\/a>, like panda milk formula development and hearing studies. \u201cThis partnership isn\u2019t just so people can see pandas,\u201d Boyd says. \u201cThere is a significant effort to have positive conservation impacts<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now that we have our new panda duo, the bamboo program is once again blossoming. Figuratively. Actual bamboo blossoming is bad for pandas. More on that later.<\/p>\n

The zoo invited San Diego Magazine for a special behind-the-scenes peek at what it takes to feed a panda, so I recently drove to the Safari Park<\/a> in deep Escondido<\/a> to meet up with Raj Brown, the director of horticulture, and Andres Guerrero, the horticulturist whose full-time job it is to cultivate panda meals.<\/p>\n

The first thing Brown tells me is that giant pandas are considered \u201cbrowsers,\u201d a term for animals that primarily feed on high-growing leaves, soft shoots, and woody plants. They chew so much\u2014up to 16 hours a day\u2014that they have the strongest jaws out of all bears.<\/p>\n

Instead of going through the Safari Park front gates as I\u2019d expected, we hop into an SUV to check out the parking lot. Much of the bamboo, it turns out, grows in the magical grove that is overflow parking. \u201cPeople don\u2019t even notice it,\u201d Brown says, pointing to the sea of cars.<\/p>\n

In the SUV, we wind in and out of dirt thoroughfares. Between each is a mass of brilliant green bamboo stretching skyward. In all, six acres within the two parks are dedicated to bamboo, but this area alone holds at least 10 different varieties. \u201cThat\u2019s the Phyllostachys vivax,\u201d Guerrero says as we pass poles of feathery green foliage. \u201cIt\u2019s one of their favorites\u2014the big leaves and tender culms.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SanCourtesy of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Five-year-old male Yun Chuan eats a modest 35 or so pounds of bamboo per day.<\/p>\n

The pandas eat four or five different varieties of bamboo every day. Each kind tastes slightly different and holds different nutritional values. These values also fluctuate throughout the year. The bears\u2019 favorite bamboo, therefore, can differ from season to season, and the animal care team\u2014like a parent trying to pass down healthy food habits\u2014trusts them to select what their bodies need. \u201cWe provide options,\u201d Guerrero says, \u201cand they get to choose.\u201d<\/p>\n

We step out of the car and into the middle of a grove. Brown, looking up at the rustling leaves towering above, remarks on how peaceful it is. I, too, feel a sense of calm, like I\u2019m in a place of deep purpose. All that surrounds me will soon be inside panda guts.<\/p>\n

Guerrero tells me that, when he arrives each morning, he\u2019s greeted by a text from the panda care team, placing an order. It\u2019s something like, \u201c30 culms of Bambusa vulgaris and 30 of the Phyllostachys aureosulcata.\u201d<\/p>\n

Translated to human, it\u2019d be like, \u201cThe pizza isn\u2019t moving, so send the grilled cheese and chicken nuggets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guerrero will get out his hand saw, select each culm, and cut them one by one from the base. It\u2019s tough work, like logging 60 small trees each day.<\/p>\n

Then, he loads them up for delivery. If you see a white Ford F-250 long-bed truck driving south on the 805 with burlap over wisps of green, you are witnessing an incoming panda buffet.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Considering that the fastest-growing bamboo can gain 35 inches in a single day, keeping the pandas fat and happy seems pretty straightforward. Surely there can\u2019t be any challenges, right? Wrong. According to Guerrero and Brown, bamboo flowers every 100 years or so.<\/p>\n

To me, that initially sounds more like a beautiful sight than a big problem. But, \u201cbasically, after that happens,\u201d Guerrero explains, \u201cthe whole crop dies.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the wild, these flowering events can cause pandas to starve to death.<\/p>\n

The Safari Park team is unsure of the age of many of their bamboo plants, since they often come from cuttings that retain the age of the mother plant. \u201cOur mission is to plot more bamboo, so we can compensate if that happens in the future,\u201d Guerrero says.<\/p>\n

As an extra safety net, they also have a contractual relationship with the San Diego Botanic Garden<\/a>, which will supply fresh stalks in an emergency.<\/p>\n

PARTNER CONTENT<\/p>\n


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A few days later, I return to the zoo, where stanchions are lined up as far as the eye can see in order to contain the day\u2019s mass of visitors. The bears munch away in their respective enclosures while Boyd, the mammal curator, tells me that Xin Bao had recently hit estrus\u2014the three days of the year when a panda is fertile<\/a>. During that time, she climbed up a tree and gazed out at Yun Chuan. \u201cShe was like a teenage girl looking at her first love,\u201d Boyd recounts.<\/p>\n

I think what she is really saying, though, is that, with any luck, Guerrero may have to up production soon.<\/p>\n

\"SanCourtesy of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance<\/p>\n

Pandas in America: A Timeline<\/p>\n