When these occur and remove populations from an area they are slow to recover as their fragmented habitat reduces the likelihood of young settling in these areas. They are also increasingly affected by natural disasters. An increasing trade for red pandas as pets has also contributed to instances of them being captured. Humans are increasing the decline of the red panda through habitat destruction and fragmentation, poaching for fur and meat and the collection of their main food source (bamboo) as fodder for livestock. If they feel threatened they will either try to get high up in a tree or will stand up on their back legs to make them look bigger and use the sharp claws on their front paws to defend themselves. The main ones are the snow leopard, martens and people. Red pandas groom themselves much like normal house cats by licking their front paws and then rubbing their back and stomach.īecause of the remote habitat they live in the red panda doesn’t have many predators. They are generally quiet but communicate between each other by using whistling and twittering sounds. Most of their life is spent high up in the trees and are most active at dusk and dawn. Red pandas lead mostly solitary lives only really coming together to mate or when the mother and the cubs are together for the first year after birth. The male red pandas rarely help with anything to do with the cubs. Maturity occurs between 18-20 months and will leave their mother at this stage so the females can have their own litters and the mother can have another litter of her own.
Weaning takes place at 6-8 months old and by this time will be about the same size as their mother. They will stay in the den nursing from their mother for about 90 days and then they will start to venture out and start to eat solid foods. Their ears and eyes are closed at birth and will start to open at about 2 -3 weeks. These cubs will weigh on average 110 to 130 grams (3.85 to 4.55 ounces) and have thick buff and grey fur. The gestation period is about 100 to 145 days the female will give birth to a litter of 1-4 cubs. The breeding season for the red panda is from January to April, and just like the giant panda the female red panda is only fertile for one or two days a year.Īfter mating the female will either build a nest or find a hollow tree log or small cave to have her babies. They are also threatened due to hunting and poaching mainly for their fur. They have become vulnerable due to loss of their habitat through deforestation and farming and agriculture. Their habitat is the cool temperate bamboo forests, and mountainous areas. The red panda lives in the Himalayas, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal and central China. When they want a drink they will dip their paws in the water to drink. Their diet is very low in calories so most of their time is spent sleeping or eating and they can spend up to 13 hours a day searching for bamboo. They have a bony extension of the wrist bone that acts like “a false thumb” that helps them grip the bamboo. Red pandas can’t process the bamboo very well especially the cellulose so they have to eat large amounts of the high quality leaves and shoots, around 1.5 kgs (3.3 pounds) of leaves and 4 kgs (8.8 pounds) of shoots each day. From time to time they also eat small birds, small rodents and eggs. They also eat fruit in the summer, as well as flowers and acorns. The average weight of the male red panda is 4.5 to 6.2 kgs (10 to 14 pounds) and the females 3 to 4.5 kgs (6 to 10 pounds).Ī majority of the red pandas diet is bamboo leaves, they eat the stalks in spring. The average body length of the red panda is 51 to 64 cms (20 to 25 in) with the tail length being 28 to 49 cms (11 to 19 in). The claws on their feet are semi retractable so that they are not damaged when they are walking on the ground and are kept sharp for climbing the trees. Their legs are short, black and they have fur on the soles of their feet that stop them slipping on wet branches and also helps to keep them warm. The tail can measure in length from about 28 to 49 cms (11 to 19 in) and is used by the red panda to help it balance in the trees, they also use it to cover themselves with in the cold. They have a thick bushy tail with six yellowish red rings that is extremely long.
They have a roundish head with a black nose, dark eyes and medium sized upright ears. This reddish coat and the white markings give them great camouflage among the red moss and white lichen that covers the tree trunks of the bamboo forest home they live in. Red pandas have long reddish brown fur on their upper parts, blackish fur on its lower parts and a light face with white markings similar to those on a raccoon, and each red panda has individual markings.
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