Baby pandas are amazingly small. Each cub weighs only about 3 ½ ounces (100 grams) at birth. No other mammal gives birth to a baby so much smaller than the adult of its species—except marsupials, such as kangaroos, whose newborn babies live in the mother’s pouch until they are more fully developed.
A panda mother must carry her baby around very gently and take care of it until it is big enough to move around on its own. Pandas are known for being very careful and protective mothers. With such tiny babies, they have to be!
Newborn pandas cry for milk about every two hours. Between feedings, a panda mother will rarely put her baby down. When sitting, the mother holds the tiny creature in her paw. When she is on the move, she carries the baby gently in her mouth. Panda cubs can walk on their own when they are about three months old.
