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Red panda (Ailurus fulgens) - Not a miniature version of the Giant panda
The origin of the name "Panda" is the Nepalese word "Nigalya ponya", which has the meaning of "eater of bamboo". And this explains the similarity of the names of the Red panda and the Giant panda: Both species are specialized on eating bamboo but are not as closely related as their names might indicate. The Red panda's dependency on bamboo isn't as distinct as in the Giant panda, which feeds exclusively on bamboo. Red pandas also consume roots, acorns, berries, lichens and sometimes eggs and young birds. The small bears are too slow to carry off faster animals. Anyway is their way of life marked by a certain kind of portliness. They spend much time resting on high branches, curled up or stretched, depending on outside temperature. Thus Red pandas are saving energy since bamboo is very low on energy content. Up in the trees they are quite safe from their predators like the Snow leopard; down on the ground Red pandas wouldn't have any chance against them.
Concerning its appearance the Red panda resembles members of the family Procyonidae like the Racoon. But it has a special systematic position among the bear relatives and can't be assigned to the major groups. Red pandas are also called "Bear cats", which can be put down to the markings of their faces resembling the markings of cat faces. Concerning their defence behaviour Red pandas are also similar to cats. The name "Red panda" derives from the colour of the long and thick fur. Another name for the Red panda is "Lesser panda". The bushy tail is marked with brown rings and the legs of the Red panda are almost black. Combined, these colours serve as a efficient camouflage, since the trees, the prefered habitat of Red pandas, are covered with lichens and moss. The contours of the bears seem to become blurred in front of such a background. The growth of moss and lichens is increased by the cold and moist climate predominating the natural habitat of the Red pandas. They inhabit the south-eastern slopes of the Himalaja and mountain forests of the Chinese province Szechuan. Steep slopes and altitudes from 2000 to 5000 metres seem to suit them best.
Red pandas lead a solitary life and are active during dusk and night. They defend a territory, which they mark with secretions, urine and faeces. During the mating season the bears become social but split up again after mating. Females are pregnant for a relatively long period of 4 to 5 months and give birth to a litter of 1 to 4 young in tree holes and crevices. The newborn Pandas are hirsute already but still blind. When about 18 days old they open their eyes. At the age of 3 months they leave their hiding-place. They are driven away by their mother when half a year old. At the age of 18 months Red pandas become sexually mature.
In zoos Red pandas reach an age of 14 years. But it's not very likely that they reach such an age in the wild very often. There are just a few young Red pandas surviving the first months. Due to the low reproduction rate and their specialization on bamboo food, Red pandas are endangered by environmental changes, to which they are not able to respond in a flexible way. But Red pandas seem to profit to a certain amount from the intensive protection of the Giant panda, since the natural habitats of both species are overlapping partly.
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This article was originally published at <a href="http://magazine.naturspot.de" target="_top">magazine.naturspot.de</a>. <a href="http://magazine.naturspot.de/text/red-panda.html" target="_top">Link to the original article</a>
The animal photos are NOT part of this permission. |
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