They’re pretty big, though perhaps not as big as you might think.
Pandas are bears and nearly all bears are large mammals, but the giant panda (ironically) is actually at the small end of the scale when it comes to the bear family.
The panda’s only smaller bear relative is the sun bear and the panda itself looks quite small next to larger bears like the polar or black bear.
In fact a full grown polar bear can weigh up to 4-5x as much as a full grown panda.Â
In the broader animal kingdom though pandas are still at the large end of the scale, being bigger and stronger than the majority of other mammals and certainly being one of the largest creatures in their own natural habitat.
How tall are giant pandas?
There are two ways to measure a giant panda’s height, either on all fours or when the panda is stood on their hind legs.Â
Measured to the shoulder when on all fours a full grown panda might be anywhere from 60-90cm tall (that’s about 2-3 feet).Â
Stood on their hind legs the same panda could be up to 180cm (6 feet) tall.Â
That means the biggest giant pandas are as tall as humans when stood on two legs.Â
Most pandas when walking on all fours will still come up to an adult human’s waist.
Pandas might not be quite as tall as people on average, but they make up for it in other weighs.Â
How much do giant pandas weigh?
The giant panda can weigh up to 135kg (just shy of 300lbs) when fully grown, with smaller adults being considered healthy as long as they weigh over 70kg (154lbs).Â
For reference, a full grown polar bear can weigh up to 700kg (1543lbs). So they might need to buy an XXXXL from our t shirts section.
Understandably giant pandas in captivity typically weigh a bit more than their counterparts in the wild, as food is much more readily available and there’s less pressure to exercise (which pandas like to avoid whenever possible!).Â
Pandas might look like all that weight is extra padding, but under their thick fur they’re actually quite lean animals. They have stocky frames but carry most of their weight as muscle, rather than fat.Â
Unlike other bears they don’t store excess fat as they don’t hibernate, partly because bamboo simply isn’t nutritious enough to allow them to build up a surplus.
How much size difference between male and female pandas?
On average male pandas are about 10-20% bigger than female pandas when the bears are fully grown.Â
There’s a slight selective evolutionary pressure at play here as in the wild male pandas do sometimes fight over the chance to breed with females.Â
Female pandas will fight to protect their young, but typically with other species where they already have a considerable size and strength advantage.
How much do panda cubs weigh at birth?
Panda cubs are unbelievably tiny when they’re born, they barely even look like bears, let alone like giant pandas.Â
They’re almost 0.01% the size of their mother at birth, clocking in at around 3-5 ounces (just 85-140g).Â
Panda cubs are certainly the smallest young produced by a member of the bear family, in fact they’re one of the smallest mammal young relative to their full grown size.Â
This might be one of the reasons people sometimes think the giant panda is a type of marsupial, as marsupials often also have exceptionally small young relative to their size.
For reference, a kitten is only around 3-5 ounces when born and a full grown house cat is not even 10% the size of a full grown giant panda.
Why are pandas born so small?
One of the drawbacks of a diet consisting almost entirely of bamboo is that giant pandas lack somewhat for outstanding nutrition.Â
They struggle to put on significant bodyweight and they struggle to maintain a healthy pregnancy.Â
This means that the pandas gestation period is quite short compared to other mammals of a similar size.Â
As a result, when panda cubs are born, they haven’t had as much time during pregancny to grow as other mammals get.Â
So they’re born almost prematurely at a very small weight and size.
How fast do panda cubs get bigger?
Pandas have to grow up pretty fast and so in the first 100 days they’ll put on 5-6kg in bodyweight.
During this time they’ll also grow their distinctive fur and start to be recognizable as pandas very quickly.
This rapid growth only continues to speed up after the first 100 days.Â
By the end of their first year panda cubs can have put on as much as 45kg, taking them nearly a third of the way to their full grown weight.Â
By age four most pandas will have reached their adult weight, this is vital as they typically leave their mother’s protective care at around age 2.Â
Some panda cubs will continue growing until they are six or seven, but the majority of growth still happens in the first few years of life.
Why are pandas the size they are?
As a rule of thumb, animals get bigger to help protect themselves (survival), to asset dominance over others (passing on genes) or to fill an evolutionary niche (also survival).Â
Bears have become apex predators on nearly all continents, with their large size helping to ensure safety and access to plentiful food.Â
Pandas have taken a slightly odd diversion of this evolutionary path though, as they’re not predators and their diet in the wild consists entirely of bamboo.Â
This special evolutionary niche has helped pandas to carve out a unique space in their native habitat, where bamboo is plentiful.Â
So on the one hand, pandas have access to a plentiful and uncontested food source that helps them grow big and strong.Â
On the other hand, that food source is bamboo and it’s about as nutritious as you’d expect a quick growing, mostly wooden, grass variety to be.Â
Whilst pandas are able to consume a lot of calories that help them grow large, those calories don’t come from the most nutritious source and thus pandas are still one of the smaller members of the bear family.Â
Their size has helped them win a place in human hearts though. They’re big enough to be relatable and cuddly without feeling overly threatening (even though they are definitely still wild and potentially dangerous animals).Â
So there’s something to be said for being not too small, not too big, but just right.
