The first panda
The red panda was named 50 years before the giant panda. The two are not closely related.
Asian mountains
Red panda
Ailurus fulgens
A cat-sized animal with russet fur, a white face, black legs and a long ringed tail.
- Size
- Body about 60cm, plus a long tail
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Mountain forests of the eastern Himalaya and south-west China
Scampers after you with its tail held out. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Red panda
Good to know
Six things about the red panda
A blanket of a tail
It wraps its bushy tail round itself to keep warm when it sleeps.
Another bamboo eater
It eats mostly bamboo leaves and shoots, with fruit, eggs and insects when it can.
Head first down a tree
It can turn its ankles round to climb down a trunk head first.
Standing up to look big
When it is alarmed it stands on its back legs with its paws in the air.
Furry soles
Thick fur on the soles of its feet keeps out the cold and grips wet branches.
The real thing
Photos of the red panda
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Red pandas sleep in the trees by day, curled on a mossy branch. Many British zoos keep them, and they are easiest to see there.
How to help
Fewer than 10,000 remain. The Red Panda Network pays local people as forest guardians: a good cause to support.
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