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- Can you spot the real panda? Despite sharing a common name, red pandas are not closely related to giant pandas—often considered the real panda. Phylogenetically, the red panda falls under a unique taxonomic group called Ailuridae, sharing common traits with mustelids, which includes racoons, weasels and skunks.
- They have thumb-like appendages for grabbing bamboo, similar to Giant Pandas. Red pandas feed mainly on bamboo using their opposable thumb. While their thumb-like appendages can be used in the same way as that of giant pandas, it is believed that the red panda’s opposable thumbs may have evolved as an adaptation for grasping branches in trees rather than for stripping bamboo.
- They are found in the Himalayas and mountainous terrain of the East. Red pandas live in high-altitude forests of Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar and China.
- Red pandas are more of a night owl than early bird. In the wild, the red panda prefers a solitary and nocturnal lifestyle. It is mainly active during the twilight period and until the early hours of the morning.
Species. Red Panda. © naturepl.com / Anup Shah / WWF-Canon. Red Panda. Facts. Why They Matter. Threats. What WWF is Doing. How You Can Help. Adopt a Red Panda. Facts. EN Status. Endangered. Population. less than 10,000 individuals. Scientific Name. Ailurus fulgens. Length. 2 feet. Habitats. Temperate forests. Map data provided by IUCN.
Speak up for species and places through WWF's Action Center. Adopt a Red Panda Make a symbolic red panda adoption to help save some of the world's most endangered animals from extinction and support WWF's conservation efforts.
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RED PANDA FAST FACTS. • Red pandas lick themselves clean, just like house cats do. • Newborns hardly have any fur on the bottoms of their feet. The fur grows as they get older. • Red pandas wrap their tails around themselves to keep warm in their chilly habitat. • They eat about 20,000 bamboo leaves every day.
- Size and Weight
- Appearance
- Diet
- Habitat
- Geography
- Breeding
- Social Structure
- Threats
- Conservation Efforts
Red pandas are 20 to 25 inches long, not including their tail. Their tail is 11 to 19 inches long. Females weigh 6 to 10 pounds, and males weigh 10 to 14 pounds.
The red panda has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs. It has white-lined ears, a primarily white muzzle and a ringed, bushy tail. They are well adapted for their arboreal habitat, using their bushy tail for balance and their long claws for gripping. The red panda’s cinnamon-red coat and cream-colored face mask provide camouflage am...
Like the giant panda, red pandas are bamboo-eaters. They are mostly vegetarian, with powerful molars for chewing on tough bamboo. Bamboo is not a great food source for energy and is hard to digest. Red pandas need to eat 20 to 30 percent of their body weight each day, about 2 to 4 pounds of bamboo shoots and leaves. Red pandas eat mostly bamboo lea...
Red pandas live mostly in cool, temperate forests with a shrubby understory dominated by thick bamboo. In part of India, red pandas live in a tropical forests.
Red pandas are found in small, isolated mountain territories in China, Nepal, India, Bhutan and Burma.
Breeding season occurs from January to April. During this time, red pandas come together in small groups. Cubs and adults may engage in social play, such as lunging, wrestling, and biting. Like giant pandas, the females are fertile for only one or two days a year, and there is a period of delayed implantation when the fertilized egg doesn’t implant...
Red pandas are largely solitary creatures but come together in pairs in the breeding season. They exchange information using scent glands, visual cues including “stare downs” with head bobbing, and a variety of calls. When they feel threatened, red pandas make an ear-splitting, grumbly barking sound. Adults use high-frequency twitters and low-frequ...
The number of red pandas living in the wild has declined dramatically over the last 50 years. There are estimated to be only 2,500 adults remaining in their native habitat. Habitat loss, hunting and the pet trade are the largest threats to the species. Their forest home has been cleared for farming and grazing. They are hunted for their pelts, whic...
There are currently global efforts to protect red pandas. Some habitat has been designated as protected areas in places such as India, China, Nepal and Bhutan. The Red Panda Networkis among the conservation groups working to save the species. It is a nonprofit organization that identifies unprotected red panda habitats and trains “forest guardians”...
Red pandas, unlike black-and-white pandas, are not bears. Red pandas can poop the equivalent of their body weight in one week. Speaking of poop, during mating season male red pandas will leave out ...
f. styani Thomas, 1902 [2] Range of the red panda. The red panda ( Ailurus fulgens ), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle and a ringed tail.
