I Was's Steed, Nicknamed 'Iron Beast,' One Palm Could Kill You
As world-renowned cute creatures, we all know that giant pandas have made huge contributions to Chinese diplomacy. Whenever we think of giant pandas, most people think of them as being only cute, adorable, lazy, and fluffy. People's first impression of them is probably these words.
The standard Chinese name for giant pandas is actually 'cat bear', meaning 'like a cat's bear'. Pandas are also considered living fossils in the animal kingdom, and they have been living on Earth for at least 8 million years, alongside animals like saber-toothed tigers, which were fierce, carnivorous beasts! The ancestors of giant pandas were originally (shǐ xióng māo), which were meat-eating animals.
With the huge changes in climate, in order to survive, pandas had to change their diet to adapt to the climate, gradually becoming both meat-eaters and grass-eaters, competing with meat-eating animals for meat and with grass-eating animals for territory. They are veritable all-round fighters in the animal kingdom.
Currently, wild giant pandas are omnivorous, in addition to bamboo, they also supplement their diet with other plant-based foods, such as eating wild angelica in spring, corn stalks in autumn, and polypore mushrooms in winter. If there's nothing to eat, they will also steal pig feed from the village. In extreme hunger situations, giant pandas will not reject animal food, such as pork bones, sheep heads, and beef steaks, and they will even capture live animals to eat, such as bamboo rats.
The biting force of adult giant pandas is second only to that of polar bears, which means they have a certain degree of danger. If they encounter danger, they generally take a defensive posture leaning against a tree or rock, and they will shout at the invaders. If necessary, they can also bite. If that doesn't work, they will hold their opponent down and roll down the hillside, with earth, roots, and thorns. Moreover, an adult wild giant panda can smash a human's skull with one slap, so adult wild giant pandas have almost no enemies.
It is said that another name for giant pandas is 'meat-iron beast', which was the mount of (Chióu), a legendary warrior. It is rumored that giant pandas will invade villagers' homes to lick the remnants of salt in iron pots, and villagers mistakenly thought that giant pandas were eating iron, hence the name 'meat-iron beast'. This seemingly cute but incredibly powerful attribute is truly beyond words.
