The red panda is slightly larger than adomestic cat. It has reddish-brown fur, a long, shaggy tail, and a waddling gait due to its shorter front legs. It feeds mainly on bamboo, but is omnivorousand also eats eggs, birds, insects, and small mammals. It is a solitary animal, mainly active from dusk to dawn, and is largely sedentary during the day.
The red panda is the only living species of the genus Ailurus and the familyAiluridae. It has been previously placed in the raccoon and bear families, but results of phylogenetic research indicate strong support for itstaxonomic classification in its own family Ailuridae, which along with theweasel, raccoon and skunk families is part of the superfamily Musteloidea.[5]Two subspecies are recognized.[3] It is not closely related to the giant panda.
The head and body length of red pandas measures 50 to 64 cm (20 to 25 in), and their tail is 28 to 59 cm (11 to 23 in). Males weigh 3.7 to 6.2 kg (8.2 to 13.7 lb) and females 3 to 6.0 kg (6.6 to 13.2 lb).[6][7][8] They have long, soft reddish-brown fur on the upper parts, blackish fur on the lower parts, and a light face with tear markings and robustcranial-dental features. The light face has white badges similar to those of araccoon, but each individual can have distinctive markings. Their roundish head has medium-sized upright ears, a black nose, and very dark eyes: almost pitch black. Their long bushy tail with six alternating yellowish red transverseochre rings provides balance and excellent camouflage against its habitat of moss- and lichen-covered trees. The legs are black and short with thick fur on the soles of the paws. This fur serves as thermal insulation on snow-covered or ice surfaces and conceals scent glands which are also present on the anus.[9]
The red panda is specialized as a bamboo feeder with strong, curved and sharp semi-retractile claws[6] standing inward for grasping of narrow tree branches, leaves and fruit. Like thegiant panda, it has a “false thumb” that is an extension of the wrist bone. When descending a tree head-first, the red panda rotates its ankle to control its descent, one of the few climbing species to do so.[10]
The red panda is endemic to thetemperate forests of the Himalayas, and ranges from the foothills of westernNepal to China in the east.[11] Its easternmost limit is the Qinling Mountains of the Shaanxi Province in China. Its range includes southernTibet, Sikkim and Assam in India,Bhutan, the northern mountains ofBurma, and in south-western China, in the Hengduan Mountains of Sichuanand the Gongshan Mountains inYunnan. It may also live in south-westTibet and northern Arunachal Pradesh, but this has not been documented. Locations with the highest density of red pandas include an area in the Himalayas that has been proposed as having been a refuge for a variety of endemic species in the Pleistocene. The distribution range of the red panda should be considered disjunct, rather than continuous.[6] A disjunct population inhabits the Meghalaya Plateau of north-eastern India.[12]
During a survey in the 1970s, signs of red pandas were found in Nepal'sDhorpatan Hunting Reserve.[13] Their presence was confirmed in spring 2007 when four red pandas were sighted at elevations ranging from 3,220 to 3,610 m (10,560 to 11,840 ft).[14] The species' westernmost limit is in Rara National Park located farther west of the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve.[15]Their presence was confirmed in 2008.[16]
The red panda lives between 2,200 and 4,800 meters (7,200 and 15,700 ft) altitude, inhabiting areas of moderate temperature between 10 and 25 °C (50 and 77 °F) with little annual change. It prefers mountainous mixed deciduousand conifer forests, especially with old trees and dense understories ofbamboo.[6][11]
The red panda population in Sichuan Province is larger and more stable than the Yunnan population, suggesting a southward expansion from Sichuan into Yunnan in the Holocene.[17]
The red panda has become extirpatedfrom the Chinese provinces of Guizhou,Gansu, Shaanxi and Qinghai.[18]
