Diet conversion experiment
Five six-month-old captive giant pandas from the Shenshuping Base of China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP) that were only receiving milk in their diets were chosen for the diet conversion experiment. Three experimental groups were established in these individuals at different developmental times: OMD (only milk as their diet), MBD (milk and bamboo diet), and OBD (only bamboo as their diet). Giant pandas that only received milk as their diet received 700-800 mL of milk per feeding, and their corresponding feces were collected at 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 months of age. Bamboo was subsequently introduced to the their daily diets with different weights based on age for 8 (3.0 kg of bamboo and 1 L of milk), 9 (3.0 kg bamboo and 1 L milk), 10 (5.0 kg bamboo and 1 L milk), 11 (5.0 kg bamboo and 1 L milk), 12 (8.0 kg bamboo and 1 L milk), and 13 (8.0 kg bamboo and 1 L milk) month old pandas. Subsequently, only bamboo was fed to these individuals with 15 kg of bamboo fed every day and feces collected at 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 months of age. The milk nutritional details are shown in Supplementary Table S1.