"Although the Giant Panda has the digestive system of a carnivore, it is actually a herbivore." WHY?

Question

99% of its diet consists of bamboo.

As far as its classification is concerned, it belongs to:

Class: Mammalia (mammal)

Order: Carnivora (meat-eating mammals)

Family: Ursidae (bears)

Answer 1

They evolved from meat eating animals. However thier evolutionary path took them to eating bamboo instead of meat so they are herbivores of the order carnivora

Giant Pandas are not the only herbivores in the order Carnivora, red pandas and maned wolves also eat mostly plant matter

Answer 2

Good question but I doubt if there IS a "why". It's probably to do with the food that was available at some point in its evolution.

Answer 3

because its a BEAR

Answer 4

Bears are actually omnivores meaning that eat both plants and animals.

Panda's diets do not solemnly consist of Bamboo, even though it's 99% of their diet. They also eat other foods such as fish, eggs, etc. if it is available to them in the wild or captivity. The reason why the Giant Panda is able to eat plants and animals is because of the way the digestive was made. The digestive, which can be based on its length of small and large intestine, is able to digest and absorbed nutrients from both the ingested plants and animals.