The red panda is usually red on its upper surface and black underneath. The face is white with black „tear” tracks under each eye. The Red panda has a long, furry tail with alternating light and dark rings. This tail is not prehensile.
Like the giant panda, the red panda has an elongated bone in its wrist that functions as a thumb and allows it to grab food. The red panda is very agile and uses its tail for balance when climbing.
Food
Though classified as carnivorous, the red panda primarily eats mostly bamboo, though berries, mushrooms, grasses, and bark are also part of its diet. It will also eat birds, eggs, insects, and small rodents. Because it is a carnivore, it does not get much out of the vegetation it eats. This requires the red panda to spend a significant portion of the day feeding. It also has a slow metabolism, which also helps.
Habitat
The red panda lives in bamboo forests in the Himalayas, living at elevations of 7000 to 15,500 feet where the air is cool and moist.
Predators
One of the primary predators of the red panda is the snow leopard. However, it is usually safe when perched up in the smaller branches of a tree.
Social Structure
The red panda is primarily a solitary animal and is usually active at dusk, dawn and at night. It is arboreal and sleeps in nests in the evergreens. When threatened, the red panda either climbs a tree or strikes out with its semi-retractable claw. When not feeding, the red panda spends time grooming or scratching itself on rocks and tree trunks.
Birth & Offspring
Several days before giving birth, a female red panda begins preparing a nest where her young will be born. During the first few days, the mother will spend between 60 and 90 percent of the time with her cubs. After a week, the mother spends more time away looking for food coming back frequently to groom and feed her young.
After 90 days the young leave the nest for the first time. Young red pandas will stay with their mother until the next breeding season. Male red pandas have nothing to do with raising their young.
Lydia King is a huge animal lover and has always been fascinated with learning about the animal kingdom. She enjoys writing about anything animal related from scientific information about rare species to animal references in pop culture.
