Bei Bei‘s a little over five-months-old at this point, and his (cute!) head and belly seem to be getting bigger and bigger:
Nom nom. Leaf eater biscuits have vitamins, protein, fat & fiber. #BeiBei & our other pandas love them. #PandaStorypic.twitter.com/mGxKM4VM49
— National Zoo (@NationalZoo) February 25, 2016
“Our giant pandas are offered bamboo, fresh produce, and leaf eater biscuits every day,” National Zoo spokesperson Devin Murphy writes in an email to City Desk. “The leaf eater biscuits have vitamins, protein, fat, and fiber in them, which helps ensure that the pandas are getting a balanced diet.”
Anybody else hungry?
Update 3:30 p.m.: If you’re still wondering what else Bei Bei has been regularly eating, Murphy provided additional details in a follow-up email:
“Bei Bei still gets almost all of his nutrients from nursing. He’ll continue to nurse from [mother] Mei Xiang for about another year. He doesn’t get his own individual diet yet, but over the past six weeks he has started to taste and eat very small amounts of bamboo, sweet potato, and leaf eater biscuits. He mostly samples them from Mei Xiang’s food.
The leaf eater biscuists are weighed out each day for [father] Tian Tian, Mei Xiang, [sister] Bao Bao. Tian Tian gets 1,215 grams. Mei Xiang gets 945 grams. Bao Bao gets 480 grams.
They are a type of biscuit that is made especially for endangered species.”