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Why are giant pandas black and white? Scientists unlock the secrets of distinctive colouring

  • Black, white and intermediate tones of their fur blend with different aspects of their habitat, a new study has found
  • The endangered animals’ fragmented natural habitat makes it difficult for researchers to find and photograph them outside zoos

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A giant panda’s black-and-white camouflage helps the animal blend into its natural environment. Photo: Wei Fuwen
Holly Chik
The purpose of the giant panda’s black-and-white fur may have been solved, according to researchers who found that even though they are highly visible in zoos, their distinctive coloration gives them effective camouflage in the wild.

“The giant panda uses black-and-white pelage as a form of crypsis to avoid detection in its natural habitat,” scientists from Britain, China, Finland and the United States wrote in an article published in the peer-reviewed journal Scientific Reports on Thursday.

Up close in a zoo, the giant panda is conspicuous but in the wild, its colouring serves a purpose. Photo: Xinhua
Up close in a zoo, the giant panda is conspicuous but in the wild, its colouring serves a purpose. Photo: Xinhua

The team said humans perceived pandas as easy to see because we most often see them in zoos or in photographs, and almost always from close up and out of their natural environment.

“I knew we were on to something when our Chinese colleagues sent us photographs from the wild and I couldn’t see the giant panda in the picture,” said author Tim Caro, a professor at the school of biological sciences of the University of Bristol, who studies animal coloration.

“If I couldn’t see it with my good primate eyes, that meant that would-be carnivorous predators with their poorer eyesight might not be able to see it either. It was simply a matter of demonstrating this objectively.”

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