Giant pandas live in the same habitats as snow leopards in the wild. This makes it easy for both creatures to fight one another.
I wonder – between a giant panda and snow leopard – who will win the fight?
A giant panda will more likely win! They might be very peaceful creatures but can be very dangerous when defending themselves against other animals.
Snow leopards are top predators around the giant panda’s habitat, but defeating a full-grown giant panda isn’t something they can do.
Therefore, snow leopards prey on young panda cubs instead.
You might be wondering why I concluded that a giant panda will defeat a snow leopard.
Let’s clear this doubt as we compare both creatures and see who has an upper hand in a fight.
Who Will Win, a Giant Panda or Snow Leopard?
If you look at the sizes, strength, and other abilities of both of these creatures, you’ll be able to conclude who will definitely win.
Here’s a quick summary:
| Giant Panda | Snow Leopard | |
| Size | Body length = 1.8 m (70 in) On all four legs = 0.9 m (35 in) | Body length = 2 m (79 in) On all four legs = 0.6 m (24 in) |
| Weight | 160-300 lbs. (75-140 kg) | 50-90 lbs. (23-41 kg) |
| Strength | 292 PSI bite force, large dense body muscles, etc. | 450-500 PSI bite force powerful hind legs, etc. |
| Speed | 20 mph (32 km/h) | 38 mph (60 km/h) |
| Lifespan | 15-20 years | 10-15 years |
| Other abilities | can climb, can swim, etc. | can climb, can jump. etc. |
Size
The total body length of giant pandas is about 1.8 meters (70 inches) without tails. This is as if they’re standing on two feet only. While on all four legs, giant pandas are about 0.9 meters (35 inches).
On the other hand, snow leopards are about 2 meters (79 inches) in length, a bit longer than giant pandas.
However, while standing on all four legs, they appear to be 0.6 meters (24 inches) tall from shoulder to the ground. This means they’re smaller than the giant pandas while standing on normal four legs.
Obviously, giant pandas have larger bodies. From their heads to their trunks, they are just bigger than snow leopards.
So, when it comes to size, giant pandas are the larger competitors.
The Winner: Giant Pandas
As giant pandas are bigger, they’ll have a big advantage when fighting snow leopards. With their size, they can easily push snow leopards around.
From distances, giant pandas can strike with their claws due to their long limbs. Snow leopards have shorter legs and would need to get very close to attack.
Weight
Giant pandas have a bodyweight of about 160-300 lbs. (75-140 kg).
However, it appears that the big cats, snow leopards, are not heavy animals compared to giant pandas. They’re lightweights, about 50-90 lbs. (23-41 kg).
So, when it comes to the weight of these two creatures, giant pandas are way heavier than snow leopards.
The Winner: Giant Pandas
Giant pandas’ weight means they’ll have more muscle mass and will deliver heavier strikes. As heavier animals, they’ll be able to withstand the snow leopards blow so more than a snow leopard would withstand theirs.
This means giant pandas’ weight helps them perform better in a battle with snow leopards. Moreover, snow leopards on the other hand will find it difficult to push giant pandas around.
Speed
Of course, we know giant pandas to be pretty slow and clumsy. However, this changes whenever they have to run. Their speed is incredible!
Despite their weight, giant pandas run at a speed of 20 mph (32 km/h). This is way more than that of an average human.
Snow leopards are very fast when they run. Their average speed is about 38 mph (60 km/h). They’re the faster competitors, about twice the speed of giant pandas!
The Winner: Snow Leopards
Snow leopards are very agile and will be faster at attacking. If they have to run during the fights, the snow leopard will always be faster.
They’ll catch up with giant pandas easily. In a fight with a snow leopard, it will not be easy for giant pandas to escape if they’re wounded.
Strength
Both creatures have powerful jaws and incredible bite forces. The bite force of a giant panda is about 292 PSI. However, that of snow leopards is stronger, about 450-500 PSI.
Both bite forces can crush bones, tear fleshes, and cause serious damage. However, snow leopards have stronger bite forces, but it doesn’t make them stronger than pandas.
Giant pandas are part of the bear family. A common thing to bears is their incredible bear strength and giant pandas are no exceptions.
Just as how big giant pandas are, they are also very strong. These cute black and white bears still have bear strength.
This makes them stronger and more powerful than snow leopards.
The Winner: Giant Pandas
Strength is a big advantage in a fight. The snow leopards have a deadlier bite force than the giant pandas.
However, the physical strength of giant pandas is similar to that of bears and way more than that of snow leopards. Snow leopards aren’t strong enough to pounce on giant pandas as it does on their prey.
However, it’ll be easier for giant pandas to push and hold down snow leopards due to their physical strength. So, bites won’t count that much.
Lifespan
Giant pandas live for about 15-20 years in the wild. On the other hand, snow leopards live about 10-12 years on average. Interestingly, these big cats get to live shorter lives compared to the panda bears.
You should also know that both these creatures live longer in captivity. A snow leopard in captivity that’s free from treats in the wild can live up to 20 years.
However, the thing is these creatures will only meet and fight in the wild. A time will come when the snow leopards won’t be alive to fight the giant panda.
The Winner: Giant Pandas
Giant pandas can live for almost twice the lifetime of snow leopards. If both creatures keep having a series of fights throughout their lifetime, the snow leopard will die first.
Giant pandas will live to even fight more battles with a different snow leopard. This makes them the winner!
Other Capabilities
Having compared both of these creatures with the categories above, you might also want to know other capabilities of these creatures. Let’s look at them below:
Other capabilities of giant pandas you should know:
- Giant pandas can climb very well and very high. These creatures are definitely not scared of heights. They use it as an advantage to stay safe from predators or threats around the forest floor.
- These cute bears are good at swimming too. In the water, their weight doesn’t give them issues at all. These bears will swim whenever they have to, especially to escape predators that can’t swim.
- The panda bears have good eyesight. It comes in very handy for them during the night or in dark places.
- Giant pandas also have a good sense of smell. This helps them stay alert in their habitats and spot threats that are close by.
Other capabilities of snow leopards you should know:
- Snow leopards have good vision, which helps them spot prey easily. This is about six times better than a human’s sight.
- They have very good hearing and can hear sounds humans won’t even hear. while hunting, they use more of their hearing than their sense of smell.
- Can climb so well and very high on trees and mountains. It’s incredible how they even carry their heavy kills and climb trees to keep them.
- These big cats are also good swimmers and can even go in deep waters.
- Their powerful back legs help these creatures jump very high up to 6 feet. Moreover, they can leap as far as 50 feet.
Overall
The Giant Panda would probably win!
Giant pandas are bigger, heavier, and stronger than snow leopards. All of these are big advantages for them in a fight.
Snow leopards have sharp claws and teeth just as giant pandas. They can likely injure pandas but defeating them is difficult.
But the giant pandas have deadly claws and teeth too. However, they are better built for battle than snow leopards.
As bigger and heavier animals, giant pandas will do more damage. Their bear strength and large muscles allow them to easily overpower snow leopards in a fight.
This might not be the case with a more powerful relative to snow leopards, the tigers.
Recommended Reading: Giant panda VS Tigers – who will Win?
Related Questions:
How Many Giant Pandas VS Snow Leopards Are There?
There are more than 2,400 giant pandas in the world. This includes both the giant pandas in the wild and ones in captivity.
Snow leopards, on the other hand, are about 4,000-6,500 individuals in the world. However, both of these creatures are among the threatened species on the IUCN red list.
Giant pandas are fewer in number than snow leopards but they aren’t extinct. Moreover, both of these creatures are no longer “endangered” as their conservation status has improved.
Instead, they’re now listed as “vulnerable” on the IUCN red list. However, they still have a high chance of going extinct.
Human activities have had a big impact on the survival of these creatures.
They have made these creatures homeless in the wild. Both giant pandas and snow leopards are even hunted and killed by humans for many purposes.
These threats they face in the wild have largely contributed to reducing their population making them the threatened species they are today.
Do Snow Leopards Eat Pandas?
The simple answer is yes! Snow leopards eat giant pandas. As predators they feed on many animals and pandas are among them.
However, they aren’t capable of hunting and killing a full-grown giant panda. Instead, they go for panda cubs.
Interestingly, this is one of the reasons why pandas might fight with snow leopards in the first place. They just have to protect their babies.
However, snow leopards are one of the main predators of red pandas. They can easily hunt, kill and eat them in the wild.
Conclusion
In summary, a giant panda will more likely defeat a snow leopard. The sharp, strong claws and teeth of snow leopards aren’t enough to take down a much mightier creature like the giant panda.
In addition, the strength of giant pandas is bear strength. They aren’t just for snapping bamboo stems but can be very useful in a fight.
Interestingly, giant pandas will walk away from any fight if possible, but if they have to defend themselves or their cubs they become very deadly.
Of course, snow leopards are predators around the giant pandas’ habitats. They go for the younger ones and avoid fully grown giant pandas.
However, a snow leopard could win a giant panda if the giant panda is sick or seriously injured.
Although giant pandas can’t run as fast as snow leopards, they certainly live longer to see another snow leopard’s lifetime.
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