RED PANDA
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ailuridae
Genus & Species: Ailurus fulgens
Sub Species:
Ailurus fulgens fulgens: Found in Nepal, northeastern India, Bhutan, and part of China.
Ailurus fulgens styani: Only found in China and northern Myanmar.
Family: Ailuridae
Genus & Species: Ailurus fulgens
Sub Species:
Ailurus fulgens fulgens: Found in Nepal, northeastern India, Bhutan, and part of China.
Ailurus fulgens styani: Only found in China and northern Myanmar.
DESCRIPTION
Red Pandas are 42 inches long including their bushy tails and resemble racoons. They weigh between 3 and 6 kilograms. Their red and white markings allow them to blend in with the red mosses and white lichens that grow on the trees in which they live. They have soft, dense fur that covers their entire body including their feet, and they use their long, bushy tails for balance in the trees. Another use for their tails is for warmth during winter.
HABITAT
Red Pandas live in cool, temperate bamboo forests located in Sichuan, Yunnan and Xizang (Provinces of China). They also live in the foot hills of the himalayas in Nepal and Bhutan and in Northern Myanmar. Part of their range is shared with the Giant Pandas.
DIET
The Red Panda's diet consists mostly of bamboo leaves and fresh shoots, as well as berries, blossoms, bird eggs and the leaves of various small plants. They have a small bony projection on their wrists that helps them to grip bamboo stalks. Giant pandas also have thus thumb like projection.
REPRODUCTION
Gestation lasts for around 136 days, after which a litter of one to four is born. Baby Red pandas are born blonde and blind and stay in the nest for around 90 days and remain close to their mother until the next mating season. Each reach adult size in approximately 12 months, adult Red Pandas live mostly solitary lives. However, many red pandas do not make it to adulthood.
CONSERVATION
Red pandas are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species because of habitat loss. Fewer than 10 000 adult Red Pandas exist in the wild.