Page 64 - The World of Animals

MASKED

PANDAS

You have most probably

seen this animal that looks
like a huge toy. Do you know

that these animals eat bamboo and
nothing else? An adult panda, for example, eats about 15 kilograms (33

pounds) of bamboo a day. This makes six tons (13,200 pounds) of
bamboo a year. For this reason, they eat all day long. They are
62
insatiable, aren't they?
Pandas have a very interesting feature. Now, have a look at your

hand. You have five fingers, right? But pandas have six fingers. Our
Lord, Who makes everything easy for every living being, has given

pandas six fingers and enabled them to grasp their food tightly, so that
they can eat easily.

Pandas always live in cold wet places. Because of this, they deliver
their babies in cave-like places. Baby pandas are blind and toothless

and to us look like little toys. Usually born in September, they are 10
centimetres (4 inches) high and weigh only 142 grams (5 ounces). New-

born pandas grow up very fast and are 800 times smaller than their
mothers. But after nine months, they weigh 27 kilograms (59 pounds).

Remember that a six year old human being only weighs 27 kilograms
(59 pounds)!