The Red Panda

The Red Panda is a mostly herbivorous mammal eating mostly bamboo. It a little larger than a typical house cat. Like a house cat the Red Panda spends most of its time sleeping, due to its low calorie diet.

I love the The Red Panda's semi-retractile claws. It has a cool "false thumb" which is actually an extension of the wrist bone.

He has thick fur on the soles of his cute feet to protect from cold. This foot fur also hides scent glands.

Humans were confused on how to classify this animal for many years because the Red Panda and the distantly related Giant Panda share characteristics of both raccoons and bears. The Red Panda was classified in the racoon family, but has been switched to the bear family. New DNA research puts the Red
Panda in a family within the superfamily Musteloidea (which also
contains the skunks and raccoons).

The Red Panda lives in the Himalayas, southern China, and parts of India and Nepal. Humans have also found a few Red Panda fossils in North America.

The species is endangered, largely because of habitat loss, but also from illegal hunting. Red Pandas are often killed for their coats to make fur hats and clothes. Due of the growing human population in China, the Red Panda's habitats are being cleared to build houses. Around 10,000 pandas die each year, and approximately 7,000 of the 10,000 die from deforestation. Red pandas have no
natural defense against predators so are easy prey for larger animals.

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