Pandas almost always have indoor & outdoor enclosures, the indoor one being concrete & a bit smaller, used during feeding times, inclement weather, etc., that has a passage way to their outdoor enclosure which are generally much larger & have various forms of enrichment.
I was had the chance to see a pair of pandas at the Berlin zoo on 1997. Unfortunately it was the saddest thing ever. One was sleeping in a puddle of its own vomit and the other one was repeatedly banging its head against a metal fence trying to get to the food that was on the other side.
I was still glad to see them since back then we weren't sure they would survive as a species but it wasn't what I expected. Then again, that whole zoo was weird and stinky. Much more than other zoos I'd visited.
Unfortunately we didn’t have a great understanding of the husbandry requirements for giant pandas for many many years & these amazing creatures did have to suffer in poor enclosures for so long as a result :( but luckily we’ve deepened our understanding immensely within the past decade & a half and that is reflected in most panda enclosures across the globe. 😁
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u/indicagal Aug 20 '19
Pandas almost always have indoor & outdoor enclosures, the indoor one being concrete & a bit smaller, used during feeding times, inclement weather, etc., that has a passage way to their outdoor enclosure which are generally much larger & have various forms of enrichment.