The red panda also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China, about the size of a large domestic cat. The red panda was first formally described in 1825.
It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle and a ringed tail. Once classified as a relative of the giant panda, it is now usually classified as the sole member of the family Ailuridae.
The guard hairs are longer and rougher while the dense undercoat is fluffier with shorter hairs. The guard hairs on the back have a circular cross-section and are 47–56 mm long. It has moderately long whiskers around the mouth, lower jaw and chin. The hair on the soles of the paws allows the animal to walk in the snow. The red panda has a relatively small head, though proportionally larger than in similarly sized raccoons, with a reduced snout and triangular ears, and nearly evenly lengthen limbs. It has a head-body length of 51–63.5 cm with a 28–48.5 cm tail. The Himalayan red panda is recorded to weigh 3.2–9.4 kg, while the Chinese red panda weighs 4–15 kg for females and 4.2–13.4 kg for males. It has five curved digits on each foot, each with curved semi-retractile claws that aid in climbing.
The forepaws possess a “false thumb,” which is an extension of a wrist bone, the radial sesamoid found in many carnivorans. This thumb allows the animal to grip onto bamboo stalks and both the digits and wrist bones are highly flexible. The red panda’s skull is wide, and its lower jaw is robust. However, because it eats leaves and stems, which are not as tough, it has smaller chewing muscles than the giant panda. The digestive system of the red panda is only 4.2 times its body length, with a simple stomach, no noticeable divide between the ileum and colon, and no caecum.
The red panda inhabits Nepal, the states of Sikkim, West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh in India, Bhutan, southern Tibet, northern Myanmar and China’s Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. In Nepal, it lives in six protected area complexes within the Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests ecoregion. The westernmost records to date were obtained in three community forests in Kalikot District in 2019.
Panchthar and Ilam Districts represent its easternmost range in the country, where its habitat in forest patches is surrounded by villages, livestock pastures and roads. The red panda prefers microhabitats within 70–240 m of water sources. Fallen logs and tree stumps are important habitat features, as they facilitate access to bamboo leaves. The red panda grabs food with one of its front paws and usually eats sitting down or standing. When foraging for bamboo, it grabs the plant by the stem and pulls it down towards its jaws. It bites the leaves with the side of the cheek teeth and then shears, chews and shallows. Smaller food like blossoms, berries and small leaves are eaten differently.
The red panda is difficult to observe in the wild, and most studies on its behaviour have taken place in captivity. The red panda appears to be both nocturnal and crepuscular, sleeping in between periods of activity at night. It typically rests or sleeps in trees or other elevated spaces, stretched out prone on a branch with legs dangling when it is hot, and curled up with its hindlimb over the face when it is cold. It is adapted for climbing and descends to the ground head-first with the hindfeet holding on to the middle of the tree trunk. It moves quickly on the ground by trotting or bounding.
Adult pandas are generally solitary and territorial. Individuals mark their home range or territorial boundaries with urine, faeces and secretions from the anal and surrounding glands. Scent marking is usually done on the ground, with males marking more often and for longer periods. Red pandas are “long-day” breeders, reproducing after the winter solstice as daylight grows longer. Mating thus takes place from January to March, with births occurring from May to August. Oestrous lasts a day, and females can enter oestrous multiple times a season, but it is not known how long the intervals between each cycle last. As the reproductive season begins, males and females interact more and will rest, move, and feed near each other. An oestrous female will spend more time marking and males will inspect her anogenital region. Receptive females make tail flicks and position themselves in a lordosis pose, with the front lowered to the ground and the spine curved. Copulation involves the male mounting the female from behind and on top, though face-to-face mattings as well as belly-to-back mattings while lying on the sides also occur.
Gestation lasts about 131 days. Before giving birth, the female selects a denning site, such as a tree, log or stump hollow or rock crevice, and builds a nest using material from nearby, such as twigs, sticks, branches, bark bits, leaves, grass and moss. Litters typically consist of one to four cubs that are born fully furred but blind. They are entirely dependent on their mother for the first three to four months until they first leave the nest. They nurse for their first five months. The bond between mother and offspring lasts until the next mating season. Cubs are fully grown at around 12 months and at around 18 months they reach sexual maturity.
The red panda’s role in the culture and folklore of local people is limited.
• A drawing of a red panda exists on a 13th-century Chinese scroll.
• In Nepal’s Taplejung District, red panda claws are used for treating epilepsy; its skin is used in rituals for treating sick people, making hats, scarecrows and decorating houses.
• In western Nepal, Magar shamans use their skin and fur in their ritual dresses and believe that it protects against evil spirits.
• People in central Bhutan consider red pandas to be reincarnations of Buddhist monks. Some tribal people in northeast India and the Yi people believe that it brings good luck to wear red panda tails or hats made of its fur.
• The red panda was recognised as the state animal of Sikkim in the early 1990s and was the mascot of the Darjeeling Tea Festival.
• It is the namesake of the Firefox browser and has been used as the namesake of music bands and companies. Its appearance has been used for plush toys, t-shirts, postcards and other items.
