The Red Panda
Rachel Steffan
5-13-13
ELA
The red panda is not a very well known mammal. They live in Asia, mainly in the
temperate forests of the Himalayan Mountains. The following information includes the red
panda’s physical characteristics, lifestyle, breeding, and interactions with people.
The red panda looks more like a raccoon, than the giant panda, its relative. They are
rarely seen, because their rich red coats blend into the red-brown trees of their habitat. Their
coats are dense (Various Authors 1, 3, 4). Red panda’s ears are outlined in white. Some parts of
their appearance are similar to a raccoon, such as their bush tails and markings on the fur of their
faces (Harvey Sullivan 58, 54). The pattern on their faces, with the patches around their eyes,
also looks like the facial pattern of the giant panda (Bonnet Wexo 18). Besides being bushy, their
tails are also ringed. The hair on the soles of the red panda’s feet, prevent them from slipping on
branches (Various Authors 3, 4). There are two thumbs on each of its forepaws (Harvey Sullivan
56). Long, sharp semi-retractable claws tip the red panda’s strong limbs on its compact body. On
their faces are distinctive whiskers. Some of their teeth are those of a carnivore and some are
those of an herbivore (Various Authors 4, 3). The mammal can crush bamboo with their wide
teeth (Bonnet Wexo 19). From head to tail, the red panda measures from 1.5 to 2ft long. While
male red pandas range from 8 to 14lbs, females vary from 10 to 13lbs (Various Authors 4). The
red panda is a small sized mammal.
Red pandas are technically classified as carnivores. However, their main food source is
bamboo. Small birds, mammals, reptiles, blossoms, and berries make up the rest of the red
panda’s diet. They eat either sitting, standing, or lying on their backs, which only a few other
animals do, while clasping bamboo in a single forepaw with their long, sharp claws. The
whiskers on their face help them detect food in the dark (Various Authors 3, 4).
Red pandas usually live in groups. Sometimes, three or more of them live together
(Bonnet Wexo 20). Climbing is one of the things they are good at. The nocturnal animal spends
most of its day resting and sleeping curled up in trees (Various Authors 2). Red pandas usually
come down to the ground for food at dawn and dusk (Harvey Sullivan 56). Male red pandas
fiercely defend their territories and mark them with urine and substances from their footpads
(Various Authors 2).
Red pandas reach adult size at 12 months. 18 months is the sexual maturity for them.
Their breeding season is from May to July. They have a gestation period of 112 to 158 days and
have up to 4 cubs. The female red panda builds a nest of sticks, grass, and leaves in a low,
hollow tree trunk or rock crevice six weeks before birth. Thick, grayish fur covers newborns.
Cubs are born with their ears and eyes closed. For the first ten days, the cubs curl around their
mother and lie still, except for when they are suckling. The female is the only one caring for the
cubs for a while, but the male begins to play with them when they are weaned (Various Authors
3, 4, 2). Mainly the mother red panda takes care of her cubs.
The red panda does interact with people. They would raid a few villages of milk and
butter supplies. Caps were made from the red panda’s fur in Nepal. The Chinese made duster
brushes out of their tails. Small numbers of them were captured for sale in the pet trade. Once
almost hunted to extinction, the red panda is now protected in most areas of its range.
International breeding programs have been established in more than 30 zoos (Various Authors
3). Preserves of bamboo-rich land to protect their food source were created by the Chinese
government (Harvey Sullivan 60). Some people are really trying to protect the red panda.
Although there are works to save the red panda, the red panda is on the endangered species list.
Not all, but most people agree that the red panda belongs to the raccoon family. The red
panda is also a close relative with the giant panda (Bonnet Wexo 18). Wahs, lesser pandas,
Himalayan raccoons, and red cat bears are all other names for the red panda (Harvey Sullivan
62). An average red panda in the wild lives for 8 to 10 years. They are small, fuzzy mammals
that live in Asia, eat bamboo, and spend most of their day in trees. Red pandas are definitely
unique.
Bibliography
Various Authors, . Wildlife Fact-File. New York City: International Masters, 1993. Print.
Sullivan, Harvey. Raccoons and Their Relatives. Chicago: World Book, 2006. Print.
Wexo, Bonnet. Giant Pandas. Mankato: Zoobooks/Wildlife Education, 1998. Print.
The Story of a Red Panda. N.d. Photograph. World Wildlife NewsWeb. 10 Feb 2014.
<http://news.worldwild.org/the-story-of-a-red-panda/>.