Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Procyonidae
Genus: Ailurus
Species: fulgens

  DESCRIPTION:
The red or lesser panda more closely resembles a racoon than its larger and more well-known relative, the giant panda.  There has been disagreement to whether the red panda belongs to the Family Procyonidae (raccoons) or to the Family Ursidae (bears including the giant panda).  In recent research of the red pandas chromosome and protein characteristics scientists have found that they belong to the bear family Ursidae. The red panda is a medium-size bear-like mammal with a thick rusty to deep chestnut colored coat with blackish underparts.  The head is round with pointed ears and a fox-like face. They have eye patches and the fronts of their pointed ears are white and there are broad white cheek patches. The tail is long and bushy with broad brown and ginger rings.  Tail is not prehensile.   Like giant pandas, red pandas have an extra "thumb" (the enlarged radial sesamoid bone) to assist in climbing and grasping bamboo. The claws are sharp and partly retractable. The broad teeth and strong jaw muscles, an adaptation chewing bamboo, have resulted in a relatively large head. 

Head & body length: 510mm - 635mm
Shoulder Height: 273mm - 283mm
Tail length: 280mm - 485mm
Weight: 3.0kg - 6.2kg

RANGE :
There are two sub-species of the red panda.  One of the sub-species, A.f. fulgens lives in Southern Tibet as far east as the Brahmaputra River and in the Himalayan mountains.  The other sub-species, A.f. slyani, which is slightly larger, lives east of the Brahmaputra River in northern Burma and in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in southwestern China.  The red panda lives in mixed deciduous and coniferous forest that have a dense canopy and a bamboo and hollow tree understory below.  They are found in elevations of 2,000 to 4,800 meters where the weather is cool and moist.
 Pandas are very difficult to locate, as they are often high in the branches of trees that are covered with masses of reddish-brown mosses, providing excellent camouflage.

DIET:
The red panda is mostly vegetarian, primarily bamboo shoots, roots, fruit, acorns, berries, lichen, and grasses.  They also eat insects, bird eggs, young birds and small rodents. Because the red panda has the digestive system of a carnivore it cannot digest wood fiber. It therefore has to eat large amounts of bamboo every day in order to survive.  In zoos, they are given a specially formulated “panda biscuit” along with freshly cut bamboo stalks. Red pandas need to consume about 30% of their body weight daily.

BREEDING AND MATURATION:
The mating season is from January to March. During this time each female comes into estrus for 14 days. Males will fight over the right to mate with females.  When they meet they arch their backs and lower their heads, then stand up on their hind legs and beat each other with their paws. Before giving birth, the females make nests in tree hollows or rock cleft with grass just before giving birth. The gestation period is 90-150 days, with births occurring in May and June. There is a delayed implantation period and embryogenesis is probable about 50 days. Between 1 and 4 cubs are born. They are blind but fully covered with hair. To produce enough milk for the cubs the mother has to eat three times the normal quantity of bamboo.  Their eyes will open on the 18 days later.  They leave the nest for the first time at 90 days. They begin to eat solid food in autumn and are weaned just before winter.  They will stay with their mother for approximately one year or until the next litter is born.  The young will become full grown at one years old and will become sexually mature at one and a half years old. Both females and males can reproduce up to 12 years of age. The maximum lifespan of a red panda is around 17.5 years in captivity, but they do not usually live longer than 8-10 years in the wild. 

BEHAVIOR/SOCIAL ORGANIZATION:
Red pandas typically live alone, but sometimes form pairs or small family groups. They are crepuscular (active around dawn and dusk) and nocturnal and usually sleep during the day in trees.  Their disposition is mild; they are gentle, curious and generally quiet. The features indicate red pandas to be akin to raccoons, but there is also evidence that they are most closely related to the giant panda. The red panda carries its tail straight and horizontal while on the ground, but when in a tree they will use it to keep their balance.
They mark their territory with scent from an anal gland, urine and faces. Their trails are also marked automatically with scent from glands on the soles of the feet. The usual communication call is a series of short whistles and squeaks. When frightened or angry they stand on their hind legs and give sharp spitting hisses, or a series of snorts. When threatened by a predator they will escape by climbing a tree or they will strike out with their semi-retractable claws. Red pandas have a low basal rates of metabolism so they do not waste so much energy searching for food because they spend 13 hours searching for food and bamboo does not have high energy density.

PREDATORS:
Snow leopards are the main predators of adults and yellow-necked martens often take cubs in the nest.

CONSERVATION  STATUS:
The red panda is an SSP species and is listed under CITES Appendix 1.  It is also considered endangered in China and protected in Nepal.  The main threat to this species survival is habitat destruction.  The red panda is also effected by the competition of local livestock. The exact population numbers of the red panda are unknown.  There may only be a few hundred in Nepal and as few as 5,000 or 6,000 in China.  Recent research out in the field has shown that the red pandas numbers are declining.  Some illegal hunting, and more importantly habitat loss and habitat fragmentation, have contributed to their endangered status. The international red panda studbook program works to coordinate captive breeding efforts worldwide.

       Red Panda SSP Website

     Lesser Panda Page
    Red Panda Information Page

   Animal Info Page (Red Panda)

   Page created by Kim Rich and Amy York, Pensacola Junior College ZooTech Students, Fall

     2000 and Fall 2002.