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Red Panda

Ailurus Fulgens

CLASS: Mammalia
ORDER: Carnivora
FAMILY: Procyonidae
GENUS: Ailurus
SPECIES: Fulgens

LIFESPAN: 12 to 14 years
COLOR/PATTERN: Bright orange/red coat on the back and brown to black underneath, eye patch is dark and muzzle, lips, cheeks and edges of the ears are white.
HABITAT: Remote high altitude bamboo forests
RANGE: Southern Asia: Szechuan, Yunnan, Northern Burma
LENGTH: Body – 2 to 3 feet, Tail 2 to 3 feet
WEIGHT: 6 to 11 pounds
REPRODUCTION: They give birth in the spring in a hollow tree or rock crevice. Young stay with their mother for a year and depart just before the birth of the next litter.
GESTATION: Varies from 112 to 158 days
LITTER: 1 to 4
DIET: Mainly bamboo, but also eat acorns, roots, berries, lichens and occasionally eggs and young birds.
ACTIVE: Nocturnal and Crepuscular
STATUS: Endangered

NOTES:

• Also known as the lesser panda, hun-ho, wah, and red cat bear
• They have a very mild disposition, are gentle, quiet, and curious.
• Latin name means “fire colored�? which perfectly describes the coat of this animal.
• The usual call is a short series of short whistles and squeaks, when provoked it utters a sharp hiss or snorts while standing on its hind legs.
• They can leap 4 to 5 feet.
• There are arguments as to whether red pandas are more closely related to the raccoon family or to the bear family, but most experts think they belong to a family of their own.
• They spend much of their time in trees.
• They have a specialized wrist bone called a radial sesamoid, which acts like a thumb allowing them to grasp bamboo stalks.
• There are two subspecies.
• Red pandas lead solitary lives, except for mothers with cubs.
• They are slow moving on the ground, but are remarkably agile in the trees.
• They are endangered due to habitat loss and poaching, and thus are on the SSP.

Last Update:Wednesday, May 18, 2005 at 14:01:00