Red Panda
Ailurus fulgens

Size: Body length: 50 to 64 cm and tail length: 28 to 50 cm. Weight up to 6 kg.

Habitat and Distribution: They are arboreal animals (they live in trees) and are found in temperate montane forests at elevations between 2,200 and 4,800 metres above sea level (where there is a thick bamboo understorey) in Himalayas, Nepal and China.

Age: Usually 8 to 10 years but they have been known to live up to 15 years.

Groups and Breeding: Red Pandas are mainly solitary, with each male having a territory which overlaps that of several females, especially in the mating season (early winter). The female has a gestation of 112-152 days (average 132) and gives birth to a litter of between 1 and 4 young in nests usually found in hollow tree trunks or rock crevices.

Diet: Red Pandas are classified as carnivores but are one of the few animals whose diet is almost entirely bamboo. Having said that, they have also been known to eat blossom, berries, small mammals, eggs and even birds!

• Red Pandas are distantly related to Giant Pandas although they are subject to much controversy as scientists cannot decide whether they are more closely related to bears or racoons.
• Red Pandas have furry soles of the feet to keep them warm when walking in the snow.
• The scientific name means fire coloured cat.
• Like Giant Pandas, Red Pandas have six fingers. The extra thumb is actually an extension of the wrist bone.
• Red Pandas are only active for around 12 hours of the day, at dawn and dusk and for some of the night; the rest of the time they rest, sounds like a good life!
• Red Pandas are threatened through habitat loss and also hunting for their fur. In parts of China a hat made of Red Panda fur is thought to bring a happy marriage to newly weds and their tails are used as dusters.
• Red Panda fossilised bones have been found in Britain!