Animals of the Bamboo Forest

Many animals all over the world depend on bamboo forests for food and shelter. Bamboo forests exist in many countries in Asia, Africa and Madagascar. Bamboo can provide nourishment through the plant's leaves, shoots and roots. Bamboo forests also provide a place for animals to reproduce. Unfortunately, many animals face endangerment because of habitat encroachment on the bamboo forests.

Giant Panda

Pandas can spend up to 12 hours a day eating bamboo.

Giant pandas live within central China. Few remain of these endangered animals, with estimates placed at 1,000 pandas in the wild, reports National Geographic. Less than 150 pandas live within zoos worldwide. The giant panda only eats the leaves and shoots of bamboo, which accounts for 99 percent of their diet. Pandas will also forage for fish, vegetation and sometimes small animals, such as rodents, notes China.org.

Red Panda

Red pandas wrap their tails around themselves for warmth.

Though the red panda is a distant relative of the giant panda and the raccoon, it belongs to its own family, the Aliuridae. The red panda lives in central Asia, the Himalayas and parts of Myanmar. The animals subsist on bamboo leaves, though they will also consume berries, bird eggs and other plant leaves. Red pandas spend much of their lives living in trees. According to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, fewer than 2,500 red pandas remain in the wild.

Golden Bamboo Lemur

Found in Madagascar, the golden bamboo lemur was first introduced by scientists in 1987. These animals are the only known primate to exist only on bamboo, states the Evolutionary Distinct & Globally Endangered website. The young leaves of bamboo contain dangerously high levels of cyanide. However, the golden bamboo lemur has developed resistance to the cyanide. The animal can consume 500 g of bamboo in one day. This is 12 times the amount of cyanide capable of killing many animals. The animal faces possible extinction due to deforestation, hunting and pet trade.

Mountain Gorilla

Mountain gorillas reside in bamboo forests during certain times of the year.

Mountain gorillas live in areas of Africa such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. The mountain gorilla eats vegetation that includes wild celery, thistles and stinging nettles. However, during August and December, bamboo primarily accounts for a mountain gorilla's diet, indicates the Save a Gorilla website. Bamboo shoots will provide a gorilla with 90 percent of its diet during this time. Due to poaching, civil wars and deforestation, fewer than 700 mountain gorillas exist in the wild.