15 Remarkable Red Panda Facts

3/15/22, 8:23 PM 15 Remarkable Red Panda Facts
Sustainability for All.
Animals

Endangered Species
15 Remarkable Red Panda Facts

Despite certain similarities to giant panda bears, red pandas are part of their own unique
scientific family
By Katherine Gallagher
Updated October 2, 2021
Fact checked by Elizabeth MacLennan
aaronchengtp photography / Getty Images
Adorable, fuzzy, and about the size of a house cat, red pandas are endemic to the high
forests of the Eastern Himalayas. They’re distinguishable by their thick red fur, short
snouts, and pointed ears, but what really sets these mammals apart are their bushy ringed
tails and the teardrop-shaped markings below their eyes.
https://www.treehugger.com/red-panda-facts-5115439 1/16
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Red pandas spend most of their lives in trees, using their semi-retractable claws to move
between branches and forage for food. The red panda is an endangered species with a
declining population, though the exactSustainability
number offor All.
surviving individuals is difficult to
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establish because of its shy and secretive nature. Here are 15 more facts you may not
know about these furry red mammals.
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1. Red Pandas Have Pseudo-Thumbs

Like giant panda bears, red pandas have a pseudo-thumb, which is basically an extended
wrist bone that can function as a thumb but isn’t a true appendage. These “thumbs” help
red pandas grip and grasp objects like bamboo and tree branches to feed and move about.
According to a 2015 study, the false thumbs were inherited from a primitive member of the
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red panda family that also lived in trees but had more carnivorous eating habits.
Anita Csejtei / EyeEm / Getty Images
2. They Are Not Closely Related to Giant Pandas

Despite sharing a name, red pandas aren’t in the same family as giant pandas. Red pandas
were initially described as members of the raccoon family (Procyonidae) due to their similar
heads and tails. More recent discoveries have placed red pandas in their own distinct
scientific family known as Ailuridae, more closely related to skunks and weasels than to the
giant panda bear.
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3. Red Pandas Were Recently Separated Into Two

Species
While the red panda was originally thought to be one species made up of two subspecies,
new genetic studies have found that there are actually two distinct species of the red panda:
the Himalayan red panda and the Chinese red panda. Researchers in China found that two
separate species had formed about 250 thousand years ago when populations were divided
by the Yalu Zangbu River. The Himalayan red panda tends to have more white on its face,
while the Chinese red panda is larger with darker fur. 3
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4. They Primarily Eat Bamboo

Red pandas feed selectively on the leaf tips and shoots of the bamboo plant — they prefer
short and robust bamboo shoots over tall ones. Although their digestive system is not very
good at processing the cellulose components of the plant cell, bamboo makes up 90% of
their meals, while the remaining 10% is mostly comprised of berries, eggs, mushrooms,
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flowers, birds, and maple and mulberry leaves.
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5. They Have the Digestive System of a Carnivore

Red pandas aren’t strict vegetarians; they also forage for insects, grubs, and even birds and
small mammals. They have the digestive anatomy of a carnivore that specializes in
digesting protein and fats rather thanSustainability for All.
the plant fibers and carbohydrates that make up
most of their meals. 5 Red pandas also possess traces of the umami taste receptor gene
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TAS1R1, which allows them to perceive components of meat and other protein-rich foods.
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6. Red Pandas Are One of Earth’s Living Fossils

Fossils found at the Gray Fossil Site in Tennessee suggest that ancient relatives of the
living red panda inhabited North America between 4.5 and 12 million years ago. Known as
the Bristol’s panda (Pristinailurus bristoli), the ancient panda was first discovered in 2004,
when researchers from East Tennessee State University found skeletal fragments and a
single tooth at the famous fossil site. The fossils were found to belong to an undiscovered
ancient species and a more complete jawbone specimen was uncovered a few years later.
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7. Red Pandas Are Born Covered in Fur
David Gray / Getty Images
Baby red pandas are about as cute as you’d imagine, weighing anywhere from 3 to 4 ounces
at birth. Cubs are born completely covered in fur to protect them from their high altitude
cold environments. Red panda offspring stay with their mothers until they are fully grown,
which takes about a year.
8. They Have a High Mortality Rate in the Wild

Red panda females have low birth rates in the wild and on average only deliver two cubs per
year. What’s worse, panda mortality rate is high in their wild habitats, where parasites are
also a concern. A study of Nepalese red pandas found that they are highly susceptible to
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deadly endoparasites, with a parasite prevalence of 90.80% in the population studied.
Similar issues are recorded in captive red pandas. Records of institutions holding captive
red pandas in Europe between 1992 and 2012 revealed that 40.2% of total panda deaths
were among cubs under 30 days of age, with pneumonia listed as the most common cause of
death. 8
9. They Can Digest Cyanide

Red pandas can digest over 40 different species of bamboo. Like giant pandas, red pandas
have evolved to neutralize cyanide in their guts as they feed on bamboo, which contains
abundant cyanide compounds. The combination of their cyanide-digesting gut microbes

with other commonalities like pseudo-thumbs and genomic signature suggests that giant
Sustainability
panda and the red panda evolved these for All.and gut microbiota independently to
common traits
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adapt to their overlapping bamboo diet.
10. Adult Red Pandas Stick to Themselves Outside of

Mating Season
Adult red pandas typically live alone, rarely interacting with others outside of the early
winter mating seasons. Female pandas give birth in the spring or summer after a gestation
period of about 114 to 145 days when they also work on collecting sticks, grass, and leaves to
1
make nests in hollow trees or rock crevices.
Red pandas have an extremely narrow birth window. In a 2018 study examining
reproductive seasonality in carnivorous mammals, 80% of all red panda births took place
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within 35 days of each other.
11. Red Pandas Are Confined to the Eastern

Himalayas
Red pandas live in high forest mountains from northern Myanmar in Burma all the way to
the west Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces in China, but they are also found in Nepal, India,
and Tibet. They can sometimes be found in other high mountains, but the World Wildlife
11
Fund believes that about 50% of their range is confined to the Eastern Himalayas. The
loss of nesting trees and bamboo due to deforestation and forest clearing is majorly
responsible for the decline in red panda populations across their range.
12. They Live at High Altitudes
Natalia / 500px / Getty Images
Preferring high forested mountain habitats, red pandas have adapted to endure extremely
high altitudes. In Bhutan, for example, a survey of red pandas between 2007 and 2009
found that a majority of red pandas were confined to cool broadleaf and conifer forests
between 7,800 to 12,000 feet above sea levels on south and east-facing slopes. While this
was the majority of recorded habitats, some were found living in forests at almost 14,400
feet above sea level. 12
13. They Are Endangered

The IUCN lists red pandas as endangered and believes that the population has declined by
50% over the past three generations. Unfortunately, this decline is projected to continue
due to the poor survival rate of the species in certain regions, habitat loss, and
fragmentation. Species of Himalayan bamboos that make up a vast majority of the red
panda’s diet are also sensitive to environmental degradation, deforestation, fire, and
overgrazing. In addition, reduced canopy cover as land is cleared for agriculture or
development increases wind and water stress for both mature bamboo plants and new
1
seedlings.
14. The Demand for Red Panda Pelts Is Increasing

An increase in red panda pelt seizures has suggested more interest in illegal trade, and a
2020 study published in Human Dimensions of Wildlife set out to discover why.
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Researchers were able to document socio-cultural All.
perspectives affecting panda
conservation in Nepal by interviewing local people, reviewing media, and consulting
experts. Interestingly, the study found that a majority of people living in red panda habitats
didn’t show negative perceptions of the species to society or positive perceptions about its
economic value and that they rarely had any medicinal, cultural, or religious
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significance.
15. Red Panda Conservationists Have High Hopes for

Nepal
Currently, 14.23% of the entire country of Nepal represents a suitable habitat for the red
14
panda, making the country a perfect setting for potential panda conservation. However,
while a limited number of red pandas are found in Nepal’s Langtang National Park,
Annapurna Conservation Area, Sagarmatha National Park, Manaslu Conservation Area,
Makalu Barun National Park, and Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, more than 75% of
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potential red panda habitat in the country falls outside of protected areas.
Save the Red Panda

Support the World Wildlife Fund in its fight to protect red pandas within their natural habitat
throughout India, Nepal, and Bhutan.
Become an ambassador for the Red Panda Network, a non-profit that helps raise awareness for
the red panda and empower local communities in red panda habitat countries.
Help put a stop to deforestation in the Eastern Himalayan areas suitable for red panda habitat
by getting involved in efforts organized by the Rainforest Trust.
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Sustainability for All.