Red Panda

1.              HISTORY OF THE RED PANDA

-The red panda was discovered in the 1800’s. –It was the only panda until 1869 when the Chinese discovered the “White Bear” or Giant panda. The red pandas were named the lesser panda after that. This was because of there size.

2.             RELATIVES

-Even though the Giant panda and the red panda live in the same area and share a similar name the red panda is more closely related to raccoon. The raccoon and red panda resemble each other in more ways than the red panda and the Giant panda do. They share resemblance in size and appearance.

3.             APPEARANCE AND FEATURES

- The red panda’s are usually 31- 47in. long. This includes the tail as well which alone is usually 12- 24in. long. The red panda has unusual colors. It has long, soft maroon fur on the top of its body and black fur on the bottom. The face is similar to a raccoon’s but with distinct markings. They have round heads with medium sized ears. The nose, eyes, and legs are black. Most of the body is Red or black except for the tail that appears having yellowish-red rings. The bottoms of their legs are covered with thick fur and sharp claws for grabbing small thin tree branches.

4.            LIVE AND HOW

-Unlike other animals there are two sub-species of Red panda and they are relatively close together. One of them is the A.F fulgens. They live in Southern Tibet, far eastward. They live as far as the Brahmaputra River. Some even live in the Himalayan Mountains. The other sub-species are the A.F. Slyani. These guys are slightly larger and live east of the Brahmaputra River. They live mostly in Northern Buma, Sichuan, and Yunnan. This is mostly on Southwestern China. The red panda’s live in mixed deciduous and coniferous forest and are hard to find because of their color and because they are usually up hidden in the trees!

5.            DIET

-Similar to the diet of a giant panda, 99% of the Red pandas diet is bamboo. They also eat other things they find. Some of these things include roots, grasses, fruits, bird eggs, small rodents, and small birds. Because their diet isn’t high energy their lifestyle is not very active. In the wild though, panda’s are active at dawn and dusk searching for food. This could take up to 13 hours, but after that they sleep the day away.

6.            SCIENTIFIC AND OTHER NAMES

- The scientific names are ailurus fulgens and ailurus syani. Other names are bear-cat, bright panda, cat-bear, common panda, Firefox, lesser panda, nigalya ponya, panda chico, panda eclatant, panda rojo, petit panda, poonya, red cat-bear, sankam, thokya, wah wokdonka, woker, and ye.

7.           REPRODUCTION

A.           Preparing for the birth; a few days before the birth the will – be mother starts gathering materials. These usually include brushwood, grass, and sheets. These items are for the nest.

B.            Unlike humans Red panda’s look for a mate only from December to the middle of February. Usually the females give birth after a period of 112- 158 days. She can give birth to 1-4 cubs at a time. This birth giving process usually occurs between the end of May and the beginning of June.

C.            After the pandas are born the mother cleans them and can then identify them by their smell. One week later the mother can leave to clean herself.

D.            The newborn cubs begin to open their eyes about 18 days later. It takes 30- 40 days for them to fully open their eyes; they remain in the nest for twelve weeks after.

8.             THREATS

-       Red Pandas are highly endangered. They are so endangered that they are classified as vulnerable. This is because the Red panda is hunted for its fur and tail. The Chinese use the fur and tail for cultural ceremonies and weddings.

-       Sadly the destroying of their home, the forest is not illegal. The destroying of their forest and the hunting, before it was made illegal, has greatly reduced the population. And even though hunting is illegal they are often captured and sold to zoos for wrong prices. Red Panda’s have been on the list for threatened species since 1996; however it is now an endangered species.

9.             PROTECTING THEM

- Luckily, the hunting of Red Panda’s has been made illegal everywhere and zoos are working to help protect injured animals and save them from grave deaths.