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Red pandas aren't technically pandas.
- Despite their name and undeniable cuteness, red pandas aren't closely related to the equally cute giant panda. They belong to the infraorder Arctoidea, which places them in the same group with bears, pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walrus), raccoons, and mustelids (weasels, skunks, otters, and badgers). Long story short, from a genetic perspective, red pandas are more like skunks and raccoons than giant pandas.
Other names for the red panda are the lesser panda and the red cat-bear.
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The red panda is what you might call a confused carnivore.
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Red pandas belong to the order Carnivora, which makes them carnivores... but not really. When it comes to dietary habits, the red panda is more like the giant panda than its closer relatives in that it eats mostly bamboo leaves. He will also eat bamboo shoots in season, insects, the odd fruit or flower, and on rare occasions, an egg or a bird.
It's very difficult for red pandas to get all the nutrients they need from bamboo. And while they have large teeth, their stomachs didn't evolve to handle plant matter. So they are only able to extract about 25 percent of the nutrients from their bamboo diets, and their digestive system works quickly. As a result, many red pandas lose a tremendous amount of weight during winter months when insects and other favorite foods are less available.
The red panda has built-in eating utensils in the form of strong, curved, sharp, semi- retractable claws, which are good for grasping narrow tree branches, leaves, and fruit. And like the giant panda, the red panda has a false thumb that extends from the wrist bone.
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Red pandas are about the size of a house cat.
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The adult red panda weighs between 12 and 20 pounds. They range in length (not including the tail) from 20 to 26 inches, and their impressively bushy tails add another 12 to 20 inches. The tail has six alternating yellow and red transverse rings, and it helps not only with balance, but also provides excellent camouflage in the animal's natural habitat.
The red panda's fur is long and soft, and is darker on the lower parts of her body. Her face is light-colored with white badges similar to those of a raccoon. Her eyes are almost pitch black. Her legs are short and the soles of her paws are covered in thick fur, which helps keep her warm on snowy or icy surfaces.
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Red pandas are solitary little creatures.
- Red pandas are generally loners, except during the first year of life when they stay close to mom, and of course when its time to make more babies.
The home ranges of female red pandas are frequently about one square mile, while males tend to occupy areas twice that size. They mark their home ranges with urine, anal gland secretions, and scents from glands on the pads of their feet. They also use communal restrooms to mark territory and exchange information with one another.
Red pandas communicate through body movements like head bobbing and tail arching, as well as vocalizations (twittering, tweeting, and whistling).
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A day in the life of a red panda.
- The red panda's morning ritual upon awakening is to first clean his fur like a cat by licking his front paws and then rubbing his back, tummy, and sides. Next is often a good scratch session against a convenient tree or rock. This is followed by some time spent patrolling and marking his territory.
During the day, red pandas usually nap on tree branches or in tree hollows. In warm weather, they often sleep stretched out on a branch with legs dangling. When it's cold, they curl up and cover their faces with their tails. Red pandas aren't good in the heat and do best at temperatures between about 63°F and 77°F.
To cope with lack of food during winter months, red pandas can spend over half their lives searching for and eating bamboo. They also have a very low metabolic rate (similar to sloths), and thick fur covering their entire body, helping to conserve body heat.
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Where red pandas call home.
- Red pandas have a large range that extends from western Nepal to northern Myanmar, and they also live in mountainous areas of southwestern China.
The foothills of the Himalayas have forests of fir trees, deciduous hardwoods, and rhododendrons, under which bamboo grows, providing the bulk of the red panda's diet. But these ribbons of bamboo grow in narrow bands throughout the red panda's range, so while their range encompasses thousands of miles, in order to find food, they must keep to these small, ecologically fragile areas.
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Red panda populations and habitats are in decline.
- Almost half of the red panda's habitat is in the Eastern Himalayas, an area that has seen the loss of nesting trees and bamboo due to logging and other forms of forest degradation. This has in turn caused a decline in red panda populations across much of their range.
Red pandas are also frequently lost when they get caught in traps meant for other animals. They are also hunted for their fur in China and Myanmar. Red panda fur caps or hats have been found for sale in Bhutan.
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It's hard to know how many red pandas still exist
in the wild.
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The red panda is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, with a worldwide population estimated at about 10,000 individuals, and a decreasing population trend. Because red pandas are shy, secretive, and nocturnal, observation of them is difficult. As a result, worldwide population estimates range from fewer than 2,500 individuals to between 16,000 and 20,000. Complicating population estimates is the fact that other animals are frequently mistaken for red pandas.
The red panda is protected in all range countries, and hunting them is illegal.
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Red panda reproduction is a slow process.
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Red pandas are able to reproduce at around 18 months of age, and are fully mature at two to three years. For such a small animal, they have a long gestation period of from 112 to 158 days. Litters are small, averaging two cubs. The cubs are blind and deaf at birth, and weigh from about 4 to 4.5 ounces.
During their first week of life, the mother red panda spends most of her time with her cubs. After that, she starts spending more time outside the nest, returning every few hours to nurse and care for her youngsters. Mothers move their cubs from nest to nest, and the nests are kept fastidiously clean.
The cubs start opening their eyes at about 18 days, and at about 3 months they have their full adult coat and coloring. This is also when they begin to venture out of the nest and eat solid foods. Cubs stay with mom until the next litter is born the following year.
The average lifespan of a red panda is 8 to 10 years, but individuals have been reported to live to 15.
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Red pandas stand up to fight.
- Red pandas have three primary predators: the snow leopard, martens, and humans.
When a red panda feels threatened or senses danger, he may try to climb a tree or rock column to escape. If he has no escape route, he'll stand up on his hind legs to make himself look bigger and use the very sharp claws on his front feet to defend himself if necessary.