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Facts and Knowledge:
The Although they all belong to the same family, the red panda with its bushy tail and chestnut covered fur, looks more like a raccoon than its relative the giant panda. The red panda, also known as the lesser panda, inhabits a region that stretches from Nepal to the Sichuan province in China. A nocturnal animal, the red panda spends most of its days asleep, searching activity for food at night.
Habits: Nocturnal and mostly active at dawn and dusk, the red panda spends most of its day resting and sleeping in trees. It is an agile climber, using its long tail for support and counterbalance. It sleeps with its legs straddling a branch, or tightly curled up p with its head under a hind leg. Its chestnut brown coat blends in well with the branches. The red panda's long, bushy tail serves as a pillow or as a form of insulation by covering it face, the tail prevent heat loss. The red panda forages on the ground. It marks it territory with urine and substances secreted from its foot pads and by depositing feces in specially dug latrines at the areas boundaries.
The male red panda fiercely defends it territory. When irritated, it makes a harsh snort. It makes a harsh snort. It gives warning by raising its forepaws over its head deaf or lunging to attack. The red panda has a limited vocal repertoire. It squeals when distressed and uses a twittering call to communicate between adults and young.
Breeding The normally solitary red panda forms pairs at the beginning of breeding season. The male follows the scent trail of the female, which she intensifies on the day of copulation. The couple mates on the ground and separates immediately afterward. Six weeks before giving birth, the female builds a nest of sticks, grass, and leaves in a low hollow tree trunk or rock crevice. Up to four young are born into this nest. The 11 inch cubs have thick, grayish fur. Born with their eyes and ears closed they lie still for the first ten days curled around each other or their mother, except when they are suckling.
For the first few days, the female rarely leaves her nest and cubs, but after a week she spends more time away from the nest, only returning every few hours to nurse and groom the young. The male does not become involved with the cubs, even after they emerge from the nest at three months. When the cubs are weaned at five months, he may begin to play with them. The mother and cubs stay together until the next breeding season starts and they show some mild aggression. Red pandas reach adult size at 12 months and can breed six months later.
Food & Feeding: Although classed as a carnivore, the red panda's primary food source is bamboo. It also eats small birds, mammals, and retells. Clasping bamboo in a single forepaw with it long, sharp claws, it eats either sitting, standing, or lying on it s back, only a few other it back can do this..
Red Panda & Man: The red panda is more wide spread and numerous than its well known relative the giant panda, but it has less human contact, except for some raiding of milk and butter supplies in a few villages.. The shy red panda, with its rich, red coat, blends into the red brown trees of its habitat and is rarely seen. In Nepal, the red panda's fur was once used to make caps. The chinese also used its tail as a duster or brush. Since they are relatively easy to train, red pandas used to be captured in small numbers for sale in the pet trade. But now the red panda is protected is most areas of its range and more than 30 zoos have established international breeding programs.
Key Facts: Sizes, Weight, breeding, lifestyle,
related Species
Length: 1 1/2 - 2 ft head to tail
Weight: Male, 8 - 14 lbs, Female, 10 -13
lbs.
Breeding:
Sexual Maturity: 18 months
Breeding Season: May to July
Gestation: 112 - 158 days
No of Young: Litter up to 1 - 4
Lifestyle:
Habit: Solitary, except in the breeding
season.
Diet: Mainly bamboo. Occasionally
small animals, birds, eggs, blossoms, and berries.
Related Species: Closest relative is the
giant panda, Ailurpodda melanoleauca, and 2 subspecies, Ailurus fulgens
fulgens and A.f. styani
Distribution: Found between 7,200 and 16,000
feet in the temperate forests of the Himalayas, and high mountains of northern
Burma, western Sichuan, and Yunnan.
Conservation: In the western part of its
range, the red panda is near extinction because of loss of its forest habitat.
Conservation measures are increasing its numbers.
Features of the Red Panda:
Body: Dense fur coat, red on the back a
and dark brown on the belly. Compact body has strong limbs tipped
with long, sharp, semi retractable claws.
Tail: Used or balance when climbing and
as a pillow to cover it face when its sleeping.
Teeth: Incisors and canines are similar
to those of a carnivore (meat eater), but the broad, flattened molars are
more like the teeth of an herbivore (plant eater).
Feet: Hair on the soles of the feet prevent
it from slipping on branches.
Did you know?
The Discovered in 1825, the red panda was the
only known panda in the west for more than 50 years.
The red panda's latin name means "fire colored
cat" or "shining cat" because f its resemblance to the cat.
Local names for the red panda include "wha" and
"chitwa" because of its twittering call.
Like its closet relative the giant panda, the
red panda has an extra "thumb" on both of its forepaws.
Because of its ringed tail, teeth, skull, and
facial markings, the red panda was originally included in the Procyonidae
family wit its distant relative the raccoon. Now some experts put
both pandas in their own family called Ailuridae.
Red pandas can jump five feet from branch to
branch.
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