Classification
Kingdom:Animalia Phylum:Chordata Class:Mammalia Order:Carnivora Family:Ailuridae Genus:Ailurus Scientific Name:Ailurus fulgens Common Name:Red Panda Other Name(s):Lesser Panda, Fire Fox Fact: According to DNA tests, the Red Panda is actually a closer relative of the Racoon than the Giant Panda and has a thumb pad on each of its hands. The Panda uses this while eating - pressing it against another pad on its palm in order to hold and manipulate the bamboo.
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About The Red Panda
The red panda, also known as the lesser panda, is a part of their own family, Ailuride. There are are two subspecies in this family:Ailrus fulgens fulgens and Ailrus fulgens styani. The Ailrus fulgens fulgens are found in Nepal, northeastern India, Bhutan, and a part of China and the Ailrus fulgens styani are only found in China and northern Myanmar.Despite their name, the red panda is not related to the giant panda, it is still unknown which other species are closely related to the red panda. It is difficult to locate a red panda in the wild due to the fact that they spend most of their time hidden in trees. They prefer temperate bamboo forests because their red and white fur helps them camoflouge on the red and white moses that grow on bamboo.The red panda's diet mostly consists of bamboo, although they are classified as carnivores. Since bamboo is not very nutritious, red pandas have an extremly low metabolic rate. They must spend 13 hours a day searching for food and eating the youngest shoots and leaves. When the weather is warm enough they also eat insects, birds, fruit, and grubs. The red panda is a nocturnal animal, meaning it mostly sleeps durning the day and is more active during the night. During the day they find trees or fallen logs to sleep on and during the night they search for food. This helps them keep their distance from predators. The two natural predators for the red panda are the snow leopard and the marten. However, one of their most prominent enemy is humans. Due to human invasions, the red panda's habitat is slowy shrinking on a large scale at an alarming rate, therefore their population is also rapidy decreasing. |