Pandas Try Pumpkins in Breeding Base

Pandas play with pumpkins at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and Research in Chengdu, Sichuan province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Visitors to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and Research in Chengdu, Sichuan province, on Sunday were amused to see pandas frolicking with pumpkins, or eating them instead of bamboo.

The gourds were available in all dens at the base from Friday to Sunday. Pandas used them as toys or tried a few bites of the new food.

According to Li Jie, an information officer with the base, pumpkins were served to the cuddly bears for the weekend after Halloween, which fell on Thursday.

Staff members from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and Research in Chengdu, Sichuan province prepare Halloween pumpkins. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Serving pumpkins first started last Halloween. Most pandas treated the new additions as containers and searched for apples and buns hidden inside. Only a few pandas thought to try the pumpkins out as food.

The new snacks prolonged the eating time of pandas and made them take more exercise, base chief Zhang Zhihe said.

In addition to pumpkins, pandas in the base have tried novel food like kiwi fruit and cantaloupe, he said.

Pandas play with pumpkins at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and Research in Chengdu, Sichuan province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Pandas play with pumpkins at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and Research in Chengdu, Sichuan province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Staff members from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and Research in Chengdu, Sichuan province prepare Halloween pumpkins. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Pandas play with pumpkins at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and Research in Chengdu, Sichuan province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]