A little reason to celebrate

National Panda Day

Animal · March 16

A day about giant pandas, the black and white bears of China's mountain bamboo forests, and how they live, eat and spend their quiet days.

National Panda Day falls on Tuesday, March 16, 2027. That is 140 days away.

Giant pandas are bears. They look like a plush toy someone designed by committee, all round ears and black eye patches, but they belong to the bear family and live wild only in mountain forests in central China.

Their lives revolve around bamboo. A panda spends much of its day sitting upright, stripping stalks and leaves and chewing steadily. Bamboo offers little energy, so pandas eat a great deal of it and move slowly to make it last. They have an enlarged wrist bone that works a bit like a thumb, which helps them grip stems while they eat.

Pandas are mostly solitary. Adults keep to their own patches of forest and meet others mainly during the breeding season. Cubs are born tiny, pink and nearly helpless, and stay with their mothers for a long time while they learn to climb and forage.

Most Americans meet pandas through zoo webcams, nature documentaries and picture books. Watching one is oddly calming. Very little happens, and that is part of the appeal. A panda rolling onto its back with a stalk of bamboo can hold an audience longer than most action films.

The word panda is also shared with the red panda, a smaller, reddish animal that lives in similar mountain forests. Despite the name, the two are not close relatives.

Ways to celebrate

Watch a live panda webcam from a zoo for a few quiet minutes.
Read a picture book or nature article about giant pandas.
Watch a documentary about bamboo forests and the animals living there.
Draw or color a panda with a child.
Learn the difference between giant pandas and red pandas.

Dates

Year	Date
2026	Monday, March 16
2027	Tuesday, March 16
2028	Thursday, March 16
2029	Friday, March 16
2030	Saturday, March 16

All national days on March 16

Also on March 16

Categories: Animal days