International Red Panda Day-September, 21

Written By: Aimee Turcotte

When you think of Red Pandas, how would you describe them? Would you say that they are closely related to the Giant Pandas? Or would you mention that Red Pandas are herbivores because they eat bamboo? Well, these statements are a false perception of Red Pandas. Red Pandas are unique animals because their closest relatives are raccoons, skunks, and weasels. However, these pandas are a part of their own taxonomic group, Ailuridae. The scientific name of the Red Panda is Ailurus fulgens, meaning ‘cat shining.’ Red Pandas are also known as ‘lesser pandas’ or the ‘red bear cat’ because of their color and the fact that they are smaller than Giant Pandas.

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Red Pandas have round heads with pointed ears, a short muzzle, and facial whiskers. The pointed ears of Red Pandas provide these animals with an acute sense of hearing that allows them to determine the location of predators and prey. A short muzzle helps Red Pandas grasp onto bamboo and chew bamboo with their strong jaws. The facial whiskers of Red Pandas provide tactile information about a Red Panda’s environment. For instance, when moving throughout the rainforest, a Red Panda’s whiskers can help them sense the objects around their environment. Lastly, the white markings on a Red Panda’s face can be characterized as a mask that assists with identifying different individuals. Liz, one of the Education interns, mentioned that the white on the face of a Red Panda helps to keep the sun out of their face, but is also meant to be luminescent, so babies can be easily found in the wild. If you are a college student that enjoys learning about animals and who is interested in doing an internship at Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo (CBZ), you can take a look at our website to learn more about our highly recommended internship program (https://www.beardsleyzoo.org/interns.html).

Even though about 95% of a Red Panda’s diet is bamboo, these animals are in the Carnivora order because they share a common ancestor with other carnivores. Interestingly, Red Pandas can only digest about 24% of the bamboo they eat. Therefore, they need to eat
approximately 30% of their body weight each day. Liz states that the reason why Red Pandas eat a lot of bamboo is because, in their natural environments in China and the Himalayan Mountains, bamboo is readily accessible in high quantities. Therefore, it is easier for Red Pandas to eat high quantities of bamboo instead of spending their energy searching the rainforest for other foods such as fruits and vegetables that may not be as abundant in the rainforest as bamboo.

Fluid can be secreted out of the pores on a Red Panda’s paw and out of their anal glands to create a scent trail that assists Red Pandas with communicating with each other from far distances. Additionally, Red Pandas can make various sounds like growls and squeals to convey distress, territoriality, an interest in mating, and more. A Red Panda’s body posture can also portray their intentions, such as when they stand on their feet to make themselves look larger in front of competitors or predators.

Red Pandas, semi-arboreal animals, need to climb trees to forage, avoid predators, find shelter, and to rest in the shade to help them regulate their body temperature. The flexible torso of a Red Panda allows this animal to twist and turn while moving around in their treetop environment. Furthermore, their torso and their ringed tail supports them in staying balanced when navigating between narrow branches. Red Pandas have semi-retractable claws that are sharp enough to hold onto trees as they climb up and down trees. The retraction of the claws aids these animals with changing their grip depending on the requirements of their climbing. Red Pandas also adapted to have a pseudothumb (a modified wrist bone) along with five digits on each of their paws. The pseudothumb assists with gripping and manipulating objects such as food. In conclusion, the pads on the paws of Red Pandas not only secrete fluid but also have hair to help Red Pandas walk around on cold surfaces like snow.

Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo does have two Red Pandas, Berry and Dorji. Berry is a female that was born in 2011 and arrived at the zoo in 2021. Dorji is a male that was born in 2023 and joined the zoo in 2024.