Giant panda to digest cellulose is ascribed to the microbes in its gut. Pandas are born with sterile intestines and require bacteria obtained from their mother's feces to digest vegetation. The giant panda is a "highly specialized" animal with "unique adaptations", and has lived in bamboo forests for millions of years. The average giant panda eats as much as 9 to 14 kg (20 to 30 lb) of bamboo shoots a day to compensate for the limited energy content of its diet. Ingestion of such a large quantity of material is possible because of the rapid passage of large amounts of indigestible
Shi Shi (giant panda) by Gao Gao as Bai Yun's mate. Shi Shi lived out his remaining years in China at the Guangzhou Zoo and died on July 5, 2008. Shi Shi (giant panda) Shi Shi (; c. 1970s – d. July 5, 2008), or "Rock", was a male giant panda who briefly stayed at the San Diego Zoo. He was the father of Hua Mei. Shi Shi was taken from the wild in Sichuan, China in 1992. He was rehabilitated and sent to San Diego Zoo as the mate for Bai Yun in 1996. In 1999, Bai Yun was artificially inseminated with sperm