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
Su Lin (giant panda, born 2005) Su Lin (giant panda, born 2005) Su Lin () is a female giant panda born at the San Diego Zoo on August 2, 2005. Her name — one of five options in an online poll — means "beautiful jade" in Chinese. Su Lin is the third cub born to her mother Bai Yun, and the second to her sire Gao Gao. Su Lin has one half-sister, through Bai Yun, Hua Mei. Like her full siblings Mei Sheng, Zhen Zhen, Yun Zi, and Xiao Liwu, she was conceived via natural mating. Su Lin made her public debut in early December, 2005,