Red Panda
Ailurus fulgens, Endangered

Red Pandas are found in the temperate forests of the Himalayas and some high mountain areas of China and Myanmar (Burma). Its anatomical features indicate Red Pandas are most closely related to the raccoon and similar to giant pandas and bears but are now in a 'family' of their own. The Red Panda is most active in the early morning and late afternoon spending most of the day resting in trees conserving their energy as their bamboo diet has a low energy content. Red pandas are normally solitary creatures but form pairs in the breeding season. Although classed as a carnivore, Red Pandas eat mainly bamboo shoots, grass and fruit with the occasional egg, insect or small animal. The Chinese name for Red Panda is hunho or firefox, due to their color and similar size to a fox. Like Giant Pandas, Red Pandas have an extra “thumb” which is simply an enlarged bone. Their claws are sharp and partly retractable. A Red Panda can consume up to 45 percent of its own body weight daily eating approximately 200,000 bamboo leaves daily. The origin of the name "Panda" is the Nepalese word "Nigalya ponya", which has the meaning of "eater of bamboo. The Red Panda was first discovered in 1821, 48 years before the Giant Pandas were found in 1869. The Red Panda is nearly extinct in the western part of its range due to human interference in its natural habitat.

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