TRENDING : Scientists finally think they know why these pandas like to roll in horse poop
Scientists finally think they know why these pandas like to roll in horse poop Unlike some of their ursine cousins, panda bears do not hibernate and must brave colder winter temperatures. The panda bear may one of the world’s cutest animals, but it also has one of the world’s grossest habits: Giant pandas in central China’s Foping National Nature Reserve like to rub horse manure on their necks and faces and roll around in it to cover their entire bodies. Now, researchers say they have an explanation for these dung baths. The horse poop contains compounds that might help the animals deal with colder temperatures. Droppings are something like an identification card for animals. Creatures sniff the feces of their own kind to pick up clues to sex and mating status, and the scat of other species can tell them when a predator is nearby. But none of this explained why wild pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) at the reserve were attracted to horse poop. Although horses sometimes pass t...