Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens fulgens)
Common Name: Red Panda
Scientific Name: Ailurus fulgens fulgens
Physical Description: Red pandas can reach a size of 42 inches long, including a long, bushy tail. They weigh between 7 and 14 pounds. Similar to giant pandas, they have a modified wrist bone that acts as a sixth digit or thumb.
The red panda’s scientific names means ‘fire-coloured cat,’ which described the orange-red fur that adorns their body. Their soft, dense fur covers their entire body, including the soles of their feet. They use their long, bushy tails to balance when they’re in trees, and to cover themselves in winter.
This mild-mannered animal can defend its territory by standing on its hind legs and using its sharp claws to strike out if threatened. The red panda can also release a strong odor from scent glands at the base of the tail that may make a predator think twice about a red panda meal.
Habitat: Red Pandas live in the remote mountainous areas of dense forest and bamboo thickets 7,000 to 12,000 feet above sea level.
Range: They live in south central Asia, from the Himalayas to southern China.
Diet: They primarily eat bamboo leaves and fresh shoots, as well as berries, blossoms, bird eggs, and small plant leaves.
Lifespan: They live up to 8 years in the wild and 15 in human care!
Social Structure: Red Pandas are relatively solitary creatures that are more active at dawn, dusk, and the evening. They can be considered crepuscular and nocturnal. Red Pandas come together to breed as the day length increases, with mothers tending to the helpless young for the first few months of their life.
Status: Endangered1
Other: International Red Panda Day is celebrated every third Saturday of September! Visit the zoo to learn more about this amazing animal who sleeps 12 or more hours a day.
1 https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/714/110023718
Scientific Name: Ailurus fulgens fulgens
Physical Description: Red pandas can reach a size of 42 inches long, including a long, bushy tail. They weigh between 7 and 14 pounds. Similar to giant pandas, they have a modified wrist bone that acts as a sixth digit or thumb.
The red panda’s scientific names means ‘fire-coloured cat,’ which described the orange-red fur that adorns their body. Their soft, dense fur covers their entire body, including the soles of their feet. They use their long, bushy tails to balance when they’re in trees, and to cover themselves in winter.
This mild-mannered animal can defend its territory by standing on its hind legs and using its sharp claws to strike out if threatened. The red panda can also release a strong odor from scent glands at the base of the tail that may make a predator think twice about a red panda meal.
Habitat: Red Pandas live in the remote mountainous areas of dense forest and bamboo thickets 7,000 to 12,000 feet above sea level.
Range: They live in south central Asia, from the Himalayas to southern China.
Diet: They primarily eat bamboo leaves and fresh shoots, as well as berries, blossoms, bird eggs, and small plant leaves.
Lifespan: They live up to 8 years in the wild and 15 in human care!
Social Structure: Red Pandas are relatively solitary creatures that are more active at dawn, dusk, and the evening. They can be considered crepuscular and nocturnal. Red Pandas come together to breed as the day length increases, with mothers tending to the helpless young for the first few months of their life.
Status: Endangered1
Other: International Red Panda Day is celebrated every third Saturday of September! Visit the zoo to learn more about this amazing animal who sleeps 12 or more hours a day.
1 https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/714/110023718
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