Facts About Red Pandas for Kids
These fur animals have thick red hair, short snout, and pointed ears, but it’s their bushy tails and tear-shaped markings under their eyes that truly set them apart.
To love them even more, follow us till the end of this article.
15 Facts About Red Pandas
#1 They’re Vegetarian Carnivores
It may sound like an oxymoron, but carnivore does not imply carnivorous in this circumstance. Carnivores fall in the biological category that comprises cats, bears, and dogs. If we talk of carnivores, various species fall in this category.
Whereas some Panda’s fall in the category of herbivores and some in carnivores. The red panda is categorized as a carnivore because it shares ancestors with other carnivores, yet it seldom eats anything other than bamboo and insects.
The red panda consumes tiny leaves of bamboo plants, but the big panda eats all of them. After eating bamboo leaves, they can spend 13 hours without eating as it is healthy and fulfilling food for them, and they can lose up to 15% of their body weight in the winter.
#2 Blending In
You would not think “excellent for camouflage” when you see the red-orange color of the red panda’s coat.
However, the red panda has been discovered to be exceptionally good at concealing from predators by slipping into the branches of tut trees, which are frequently covered in reddish-brown moss. This is useful since death by snow leopard appears to be a very painful way to die.
#3 Red Pandas Can’t Jump Very High
Despite its jump ability, the red panda possesses outstanding climbing skills. In addition, they have a knack for choosing trees to hide from predators. On severely chilly days, they also like sunbathing. Red pandas can also swim well.
#4 Panda Cubs
The cubs are born in late spring and early summer in branches and grass nests after three months of growth in their mother. The furs of newborns are very thick and have grey color covering their whole body, and normally you would find their eyes closed.
Cubs are normally born in pairs, but a litter might have one to four siblings. When the cubs reach the age of 3 months, they normally stay away from the nest, but they do not leave their mother until the successive season of breeding starts up.
#5 Roll Himself To Stay Warm
The red panda sometimes goes around like a ball to stay warm. To do this, he hides his head in his chest and his nose between his hind paws.
#6 Rise In The Demand Of Red Panda Pelts
By interviewing local people, reading media, and contacting specialists, researchers captured socio-cultural viewpoints impacting panda conservation in Nepal.
Surprisingly, according to the research, most people living in red panda areas had neither negative nor favorable impressions of the species’ economic importance, and they seldom had any medical, cultural, or religious significance.
#7 Female Red Panda Is Extremely Caring Towards Her Babies
When a cub is born, the mummy panda looks after her baby a lot. She can even recognize each youngster based on its scent. So for the initial days when the cub is born, the mummy red panda pays her full time (80-90 percent) to her cub by taking care of him.
She leaves the nest for a few hours and then returns to feed and clean the cubs. The mother can regularly move her pups to different nests and ensure they are all clean.
#8 Red Panda And Raccoon’s Sizes Are Similar
You would find the size of the raccoon, and the size of the red panda is identical. Their weight is 8-13 pounds, and when it comes to their length, they are around 21-27 inches long. If you include their tail, you will notice their length around 33-41 inches.
#9 Red Pandas Have A False Thumb
This is another attribute that red pandas and giant pandas have in common. It was assumed that both pandas’ fake thumbs, which are essentially elongated wrist bones, adapted to chewing bamboo. This trait was also present in the red panda’s carnivorous predecessors.
This transpired was one of the most extreme occurrences of convergence among vertebrates, according to 2006 research. When two unrelated creatures are presented with comparable situations, they appear alike.
In this scenario, the red panda’s fake thumb evolved to aid tree climbing and was only subsequently adapted for the bamboo diet. Still, giant pandas develop a nearly comparable trait due to their bamboo diet.
#10 Some Similarities In Red Panda And Giant Panda
Red pandas descend from trees head-first and rotate their ankles, making them one of the few climbing species on the planet that can do so, and giant pandas can also do the same.
#11 Natural Habitat
Eastern Himalayas are considered to be the home for a red panda. These red pandas appear most frequently near the northeastern parts of the Himalayas.
But the World Wildlife Fund estimates that the Eastern Himalayas account for nearly half of their range. This is because red pandas spend most of their time sleeping on the tree, and they mostly search for food at night.
#12 Red Pandas Need Privacy
Red pandas do not live with other pandas unless and until hunting in a group. After that, they spend their daytime alone, but the exception arises during hunting—red panda hunt in a group.
Red pandas love their privacy as much as we humans do. Hence this is what makes them unique creatures in the wild!
#13 Red Pandas Are Popularly Known As Tree Lover
When it comes to red pandas’ likings, snow is the only thing that makes them come out from the tree. So, especially in the winter season, you can easily catch a glimpse of a red panda in the zoo.
Otherwise, they do not come down from trees and spend their whole day on trees except hunting. This is considered the only reason why red pandas are called “tree lovers.”
#14 They Can Digest Cyanide
Red pandas may digest over 40 distinct types of bamboo. Red pandas, like giant pandas, have evolved to neutralize cyanide in their intestines when eating bamboo, which is high in cyanide compounds.
The presence of cyanide-digesting gut microorganisms and a similar genetic profile implies that the giant and red pandas developed these characteristics and gut microbiota separately to adapt to their overlapping bamboo diet.
#15 Red Pandas Are The Last Ailuridae
The ailuridae family belongs to the Carnivora order of placental animals, which consume meat. The ailuridae were classed as part of the raccoon family by French scientist Georges Cuvier in 1825, and the classification has been disputed ever since.
However, the red panda is now the sole remaining member of the ailuridae family, as its cousins died.
Conclusion
The number of red pandas decreases as they are hunted down and killed by predators. However, the species is one of the best, funny, and beautiful. We hope you have learned many unknown facts about the lovely species red panda, and the facts we have discussed were unknown and interesting to you.