Quick Search
   Home Professor Paul's Guide to Mammals Carnivora;Carnivores Living mammals,family Ailuridae;Pandas
Red Panda;Ailurus fulgens
Last update:  31-12-69

Submitted by Administrator



Range and Habitat

Despite their name, the red panda is closer related to procyonids than to the ursids. The red or lesser panda is found in the deciduous temperate forests in the Himalayan mountain range in the countries of Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, Burma, and Sichuan and Yunnan. They live at an altitude of between 6,000 and 12,000 feet.


Physical Appearance

The red panda has long pelage that is a reddish brown in color, with white on the inner ears, muzzle, cheeks, and around eyes and dark brown to black on their legs. Beneath each eye is a rusty marking that runs straight down the face. Their thick bushy tail is banded. They have long claws, enabling them to climb thoughout the trees. Their ears are large, bushy and pointed at the tips. They tend to walk plantigrade.


Diet

The red panda feeds on bamboo shoots and leaves, berries, succulent plants, roots, eggs, and small vertebrates. Their primary food source is bamboo leaves.


Reproduction and Social Behavior

The red panda tends to lead a solitary, arboreal life. They are nocturnal and crepuscular, spending the high part of the day sleeping in the trees. They groom themselves upon waking before foraging for food. They scent mark their territory. Mating season is in early winter. After a gestation period of 134 days, 1-4 young are born in a nest made in the trees. Males do not help to care for the young. They reach adult size at 12 months, and sexual maturity at 18 months. They can live for 8-10 years in the wild.


Taxonomic Debate

There is some taxonomic debate on placing the red panda. Some place it in its own family, Ailuridae. Some even place the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) in this family with it. However, morphologically, giant pandas are bears in every respect, and it is the general consensus of the taxonomic community that they are, in fact, members of the family Ursidae. Some place the red panda in the bear family. Morphologically and functionally, the red panda is closer to the procyonids than to the bear or panda. There is little data to support placing the red panda into its own family.


Threats

Deforestation is the biggest threat to the red panda.

 
Related Article(s):

^ Top Page

Designed and Programmed by Kenny Ngo.

oyunlar1 müzik dinle kral oyun kombi yemek tarifleri