Giant pandas, as you may or may not know, used to be meat-eaters. Opinions vary on a lot of this topic, but the more recent data suggests that pandas lost their ability to taste meat around 4,000 to 7,000 years ago. Though Pandas can't taste meat, modern pandas still have the digestive system of a carnivore and could potentially occasionally eat meat, which brings up an interesting conundrum. Bamboo is not a full nutritious diet -- pandas have to snack all day to stay alive, and even then, they are renowned for being lazy lil' fellas. But, they will not eat meat because they cannot taste it. Since their diet requires all-day snacking, they usually wouldn't go out to hunt meat, which they wouldn't be able to catch because they don't have enough energy, and since they wouldn't be able to catch it, they won't be able to get the energy. Its all very cyclical. (I hope you stayed with me because I explianed that very poorly and with too many wordsss) Even so, pandas sometimes eat fruits, vegetables, small game, and (in captivity) man-made desserts! Pandas are very strange creatures.
I just realized that I haven't got into how pandas actually lost their ability to eat meat! The first reason they originally had their varied diet is probably environmental. Giant pandas could've used to live in a mroe diverse type of forest with more food options. They lost the ability to taste meat because of a mutation in the "Tas1r1" gene. Scientists don't know, however, if the gene mutated because they stopped eating meat, or if they stopped eating meat because the gene mutated.
(Note: The word for the taste pandas can't experience is umami. I very much despise that word. Something about "umami" makes me recoil in disgust.)
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