Red Panda

The **red panda** (*Ailurus fulgens*), also known as the **lesser panda**, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle and a ringed tail. Its head-to-body length is 51–63.5 cm

## Red Panda

### Species

A. fulgens

(20.1–25.0 in) with a 28–48.5 cm (11.0–19.1 in) tail, and it weighs between 3.2 and 15 kg (7.1 and 33.1 lb). It is well adapted to climbing due to its flexible joints and curved semi-retractile claws.

The red panda was first described in 1825. The two currently recognised subspecies, the Himalayan and the Chinese red panda, genetically diverged about 250,000 years ago. The red panda's place on the evolutionary tree has been debated, but modern genetic evidence places it in close affinity with raccoons and weasels. It is not closely related to the giant panda (*Ailuropoda melanoleuca*), which is a bear, though both possess elongated wrist bones or "false thumbs" used for grasping bamboo. The evolutionary lineage of the red panda stretches back around 25 to 18 million years ago, as indicated by extinct fossil relatives found in Eurasia and North America.

The red panda inhabits coniferous forests as well as temperate broadleaf and mixed forests, favouring steep slopes with dense bamboo cover close to water sources. It is solitary and largely arboreal. It feeds mainly on bamboo shoots and leaves, but also on fruits and blossoms. Red pandas mate in early spring, with the females giving birth to litters of up to four cubs in summer. It is threatened by poaching as well as destruction and fragmentation of habitat due to deforestation. The species has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2015. It is protected in all range countries.

Community-based conservation programmes have been initiated in Nepal, Bhutan and northeastern India; in China, it benefits from nature conservation projects. Regional captive breeding programmes for the red panda have been established in zoos around the world. It is featured in animated movies, video games, comic books and as the namesake of companies and music bands.

The red panda is slightly larger than a domestic cat with a bear-like body and thick russet fur. The belly and limbs are black, and there are white markings on the side of the head and above its small eyes. Red pandas are very skillful and acrobatic animals that predominantly stay in trees. Almost 50% of the red panda’s habitat is in the Eastern Himalayas. They use their long, bushy tails for balance and to cover themselves in winter, presumably for warmth. Primarily an herbivore, the name panda is said to come from the Nepali word ‘ponya,’ which means bamboo or plant eating animal.

## Etymology

The name "panda" is thought to have originated from the red panda's local Nepali name पञ्जा '**pajā'** "claw" or पौँजा '**paũjā'** "paw". In English, it was simply called "panda"; when the giant panda (*Ailuropoda melanoleuca*) was formally described and named in 1869, it became known as the "red panda" or "lesser panda" to distinguish it from the larger animal. The genus name *Ailurus* is adopted from the ancient Greek word αἴλουρος ('**ailouros'**), meaning "cat". The specific epithet *fulgens* is Latin for "shining, bright".

## Taxonomy

Watercolour painting of a red panda commissioned by Thomas Hardwicke c. 1820

The red panda was classified and formally described in 1825 by Frederic Cuvier, who gave it its current scientific name *Ailurus fulgens*. Cuvier's description was based on zoological specimens, including skin, paws, jawbones and teeth "from the mountains north of India", as well as an account by Alfred Duvaucel. The red panda was described earlier by Thomas Hardwicke in 1821, but his paper was only published in 1827. In 1847, Brian Houghton Hodgson described a red panda from the Himalayas, for which he proposed the name *Ailurus ochraceus*. In 1902, Oldfield Thomas described a skull of a male red panda specimen collected in Sichuan by Frederick William Styan under the name *Ailurus fulgens styani*.

### Subspecies and species

The modern red panda is the only recognised species of the genus *Ailurus*. It is traditionally divided into two subspecies: the Himalayan red panda (*A. f. fulgens*) and the Chinese red panda (*A. f. styani*). The Himalayan subspecies has a straighter profile, a lighter coloured forehead and ochre-tipped hairs on the lower back and rump. The Chinese subspecies has a more curved forehead, steeper muzzle slope, a darker coat with a redder, less white face and more contrast between the tail rings.

In 2020, results of a genetic analysis of red panda samples showed that the red panda populations in the Himalayas and China were separated about 250,000 years ago. The researchers suggested that the two subspecies should be treated as distinct species. Red pandas in southeastern Tibet and northern Myanmar were found to be part of *styani*, while those of southern Tibet were of *fulgens* in the strict sense. DNA sequencing of 132 red panda faecal samples collected in Northeast India and China also showed two distinct clusters indicating that the Siang River in Arunachal Pradesh constitutes the boundary between the Himalayan and Chinese red pandas. They probably diverged due to glaciation events on the southern Tibetan Plateau in the Pleistocene.

### Phylogeny

The placement of the red panda on the evolutionary tree has been debated. In the first half of the 20th century, various scientists placed it in the family Procyonidae with raccoons and their allies. At the time, most prominent biologists also considered the red panda to be related to the giant panda and classified both in the subfamily Ailurinae within Procyonidae. The giant panda would eventually be found to be a bear. A 1982 study examined the similarities and differences in the skull between the red panda and the giant panda, other bears and procyonids, and placed the species in its own family Ailuridae. The author of the study considered the red panda to be more closely related to bears.

A 1995 mitochondrial DNA analysis revealed that the red panda has close affinities with procyonids. Further genetic studies have placed the red panda within the clade Musteloidea, which also includes Procyonidae, Mustelidae (weasels and relatives) and Mephitidae (skunks and relatives). The following cladogram is based on the molecular phylogeny of six genes, with the musteloids updated following a multigene analysis.

## Characteristics

Red panda skull

Red panda face

The red panda's coat is mainly red or orange-brown with a black belly and legs. The face is mostly white and has red marks that stretch from the eyes to the corners of the mouth. The inner ears are covered in white fur with a red patch in the centre. It has moderately long whiskers around the mouth, lower jaw and chin. Its bushy tail has alternating rings of red and buff. The colouration appears to serve as camouflage in habitat with red moss and white lichen-covered trees. The fur consists of coarse guard hairs with a soft dense, woolly undercoat. The guard hairs on the back have a circular cross-section and are 47–56 mm (1.9–2.2 in) long.

The red panda has a relatively small head, though proportionally larger than in similarly sized raccoons, with a reduced snout and triangular ears, while the limbs are nearly equal in length. It has a head-body length of 51–63.5 cm (20.1–25.0 in) with a 28–48.5 cm (11.0–19.1 in) tail. The Himalayan red panda is recorded to weigh 3.2–9.4 kg (7.1–20.7 lb), while the Chinese red panda weighs 4–15 kg (8.8–33.1 lb) for females and 4.2–13.4 kg (9.3–29.5 lb) for males. It has five curved digits on each foot, which end in curved semi-retractile claws that aid in climbing. The pelvis and hindlimbs have flexible joints, adaptations for an arboreal quadrupedal lifestyle. While not prehensile, the tail acts as a support and counterbalance when 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 hold onto bamboo stalks and separate leaves, and both the digits and wrist bones give the red panda remarkable dexterity. The red panda shares this feature with the giant panda, which has a larger sesamoid that is more compressed at the sides. In addition, the red panda's sesamoid has a more concave tip while the giant panda's hooks in the middle.

Its skull is wide, and its lower jaw is robust. However, because it eats the less fibrous parts of bamboo, the leaves and stems, it has less-developed chewing muscles than the giant panda. The digestive tract of the red panda is also typical of a carnivore, being fairly short, at only 4.2 times its body length, with a simple stomach, no clear distinction between the ileum and the colon, and no caecum.

## Distribution and habitat

Red panda in Neora Valley National Park

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. The global potential habitat of the red panda has been estimated to comprise 47,100 km2 (18,200 sq mi) at most; this habitat is located in the temperate climate zone of the Himalayas with a mean annual temperature range of 18–24 °C (64–75 °F). Throughout this range, it has been recorded at elevations of 2,000–4,300 m (6,600–14,100 ft).

Habitat of the red panda

 China
 India
 Myanmar
 Bhutan
 **Total** | 47,100 km2 (18,200 sq mi)

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 metapopulation in protected areas and wildlife corridors in the Kangchenjunga landscape of Sikkim and northern West Bengal is partly connected through old-growth forests outside protected areas. Forests in this landscape are dominated by Himalayan oaks (*Quercus lamellosa* and *Q. semecarpifolia*), Himalayan birch (*Betula utilis*), Himalayan fir (*Abies densa*), Himalayan maple (*Acer caesium*) with bamboo, *Rhododendron* and some black juniper (*Juniperus indica*) shrub growing in the understoreys. Records in Bhutan, Arunachal Pradesh's Pangchen Valley, West Kameng and Shi Yomi districts indicate that it frequents habitats with *Yushania* and *Thamnocalamus* bamboo, medium-sized *Rhododendron*, *Sorbus* and *Castanopsis* trees. In China, it inhabits the Hengduan Mountains subalpine conifer forests and Qionglai-Minshan conifer forests in the Hengduan, Qionglai, Xiaoxiang, Daxiangling and Liangshan Mountains in Sichuan. In the adjacent Yunnan province, it was recorded only in the northwestern montane part.

The red panda prefers microhabitats within 70–240 m (230–790 ft) of water sources. Fallen logs and tree stumps are important habitat features, as they facilitate access to bamboo leaves. Red pandas have been recorded to use steep slopes of more than 20° and stumps exceeding a diameter of 30 cm (12 in). Red pandas observed in Phrumsengla National Park used foremost easterly and southerly slopes with a mean slope of 34° and a canopy cover of 66 per cent that were overgrown with bamboo about 23 m (75 ft) in height. In Dafengding Nature Reserve, it prefers steep south-facing slopes in winter and inhabits forests with bamboo 1.5–2.5 m (4 ft 11 in – 8 ft 2 in) tall. In Gaoligongshan National Nature Reserve, it inhabits mixed coniferous forest with a dense canopy cover of more than 75 per cent, steep slopes and a density of at least 70 bamboo plants/m2 (6.5 bamboo plants/sq ft). In China's Fengtongzhai and Yele National Nature Reserves, the red panda selects steep slopes and a high density of bamboo stems, fallen logs and stumps, whereas the giant panda prefers gentle slopes with taller bamboo but lower densities of stems, logs and stumps. Such niche separation lessens competition between the two bamboo-eating species.

## Behaviour and ecology

Red panda sleeping on a tree

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 on a branch with legs dangling when it is hot, and curled up with its tail 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. Its lifespan in captivity reaches 14 years.

### Social spacing

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 occurs more on the ground, and males mark more often and for longer periods than females. In China's Wolong National Nature Reserve, the home range of a radio-collared female was 0.94 km2 (0.36 sq mi), while that of a male was 1.11 km2 (0.43 sq mi). A one-year-long monitoring study of ten red pandas in eastern Nepal showed that the four males had median home ranges of 1.73 km2 (0.67 sq mi) and the six females of 0.94 km2 (0.36 sq mi) within a forest cover of at least 19.2 ha (47 acres). The females travelled 419–841 m (1,375–2,759 ft) per day and the males 660–1,473 m (2,165–4,833 ft). In the mating season from January to March, adults travelled a mean of 795 m (2,608 ft) and subadults a mean of 861 m (2,825 ft). They all had larger home ranges in areas with low forest cover and reduced their activity in areas that were disturbed by people, livestock and dogs.

### Diet and feeding

Red panda feeding

The red panda is largely herbivorous and feeds primarily on bamboo, mainly the genera *Phyllostachys*, *Sinarundinaria*, *Thamnocalamus* and *Chimonobambusa*. It also feeds on fruits, blossoms, acorns, eggs, birds and small mammals. It mainly eats the leaves of bamboo, which are often the only available food item in the winter and the most common food for the rest of the year. In Wolong National Nature Reserve, leaves of *Bashania fangiana* were found in nearly 94 per cent of analysed droppings, and its shoots were found in 59 per cent of the droppings found in June.

The diet of red pandas monitored at three sites in Singalila National Park for two years consisted of 40–83 per cent *Yushania maling* and 51–91.2 per cent *Thamnocalamus spathiflorus* bamboos supplemented by bamboo shoots, *Actinidia strigosa* fruits and seasonal berries. In this national park, red panda droppings also contained remains of silky rose and bramble fruit species in the summer season, *Actinidia callosa* in the post-monsoon season, and *Merrilliopanax alpinus*, whitebeam (*Sorbus cuspidata*) and tree rhododendron in both seasons. Droppings were found on 23 plant species including the stone oak (*Lithocarpus pachyphyllus*), Campbell's magnolia (*Magnolia campbellii*), chinquapin (*Castanopsis tribuloides*), Himalayan birch, *Litsea sericea* and the holly species *Ilex fragilis*. In Nepal's Rara National Park, *Thamnocalamus* was found in all the droppings sampled, both before and after the monsoon. Its summer diet in Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve also includes some lichens and barberries. In Bhutan's Jigme Dorji National Park, red panda faeces found in the fruiting season contained seeds of Himalayan ivy (*Hedera nepalensis*).

The red panda grabs food with one of its front paws and usually eats sitting down or standing, but sometimes lays on its back. When foraging for bamboo, it grabs the plant by the stem and bends it down so the leaves are within reach of the jaws. It inserts them into the side and shears and chews them. It nips small food like blossoms, berries and small leaves with the incisors. Having the digestive system of a carnivore, the red panda is a poor processor of bamboo, which passes through its gut in two to four hours. It hence selects the more nutritious plant matter, such as tender leaves and shoots, and consumes them in large quantities. It eats over 1.5 kg (3 lb 5 oz) of fresh leaves or 4 kg (9 lb) of fresh shoots in a day and can digest crude proteins and fats more easily than fibres and lignin in the bamboo leaves. Bamboo is most digestible in summer and fall but least in winter, and shoots are more digestible than leaves. Despite its low-quality diet, the red panda's metabolic rate is close to that of similarly-sized mammals. The red panda digests almost a third of dry matter, which is more efficient than the giant panda digesting 17 per cent. Microbes in the red panada's gut may play a role in its processing of bamboo; the microbiota community in the red panda is less diverse than in other mammals.

### Communication

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Sounds of red panda twittering

At least seven different vocalisations have been recorded in the red panda, comprising growls, barks, squeals, hoots, bleats, grunts and twitters. Growling, barking, grunting and squealing are produced during fights and aggressive chasing. Hooting is made in response to being approached by another individual. Bleating is recorded after scent-marking and sniffing. Males may bleat during courtship, particularly before mounting. Twittering is made by mating females. During both play fighting and aggressive fighting, individuals arch their backs and tails while slowly moving their heads up and down. They then turn their heads while jaw-clapping, move their heads side to side and raise a forepaw with an intent to strike. They stand on their hind legs and raise the forelimbs above the head before lunging. Two individuals "stare" each other from a distance.

### Reproduction and parenting

Red panda tending its cub

Red pandas are "long-day" breeders, meaning that breeding occurs as the length of daylight increases following the winter solstice. Mating thus occurs mostly between January and March, with births taking place from May to August. For captive pandas in the southern hemisphere, reproduction is delayed by six months. Oestrous lasts a day, and females can enter oestrous multiple times a season, but the length of intervals between each cycle is not clear.

As the breeding season begins, there are increased interactions between males and females, who will rest, move and feed close to each other. Oestrous females are observed to mark more often and more vigorously and males will sniff their anogenital region. Receptive females make tail-flicks and position themselves in a lordosis pose, with the front lowered and the back arched. Copulation involves the male mounting the female from behind and on top, though face-to-face matings as well as belly-to-back matings while lying on the sides have been observed. The male usually does not bite the female's neck but will grab her sides with his front paws. Mountings are 2–25 minutes long, and the couple grooms each other between mounting bouts.

Gestation lasts about 158 days. Prior to 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 emerge from the nest. They nurse for their first five months. Mother and offspring stay together until the next breeding. Cubs reach their adult size at around 12 months and sexual maturity at around 18 months. Two radio-collared cubs in eastern Nepal separated from their mothers at the age of 7–8 months and left their birth areas three weeks later. They reached new home ranges within 26–42 days and became residents after exploring them for 42–44 days.

### Diseases

Faecal samples of red panda collected in Nepal contained parasitic protozoa, amoebozoans, roundworms, trematodes and tapeworms. Roundworms, tapeworms and coccidia were also found in red panda scat collected in Rara and Langtang National Parks. Fourteen red pandas at the Knoxville Zoo suffered from severe ringworm, so the tails of two were amputated. Chagas disease was reported as the cause of death of a red panda kept in a Kansas zoo. *Amdoparvovirus* was detected in the scat of six red pandas in the Sacramento Zoo. Eight captive red pandas in a Chinese zoo suffered from shortness of breath and fever shortly before they died of pneumonia; autopsy revealed that they had antibodies to the protozoans *Toxoplasma gondii* and *Sarcocystis* species indicating that they were intermediate hosts. A captive red panda in the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding died of unknown reasons; an autopsy showed that its kidneys, liver and lungs were damaged by a bacterial infection caused by *Escherichia coli*.

## Threats

The primary threats to the red panda are destruction and fragmentation of habitat caused by multiple circumstances such as increasing human population, deforestation, illegal collection of non-timber forest products and disturbances by herders and livestock. Small groups of animals with little opportunity for exchange between them face the risk of inbreeding, decreased genetic diversity, and even extinction. In addition, clearcutting for firewood or agriculture and hillside terracing removes old trees that provide maternal dens and decreases the ability of some bamboo species to regenerate. The cut lumber stock in Sichuan alone reached 2,661,000 m3 (94,000,000 cu ft) in 1958–1960, and around 3,597.9 km2 (1,389.2 sq mi) of red panda habitat were logged between the mid 1970s and late 1990s.

Deforestation inhibits the dispersal of red pandas and leads to severe fragmentation of the population; trampling by livestock depresses bamboo growth. Throughout Nepal, the red panda habitat outside protected areas is negatively affected by solid waste, livestock trails and herding stations, and people collecting firewood and medicinal plants. Threats identified in Nepal's Lamjung District include grazing by livestock during seasonal transhumance, human-made forest fires and the collection of bamboo as cattle fodder in winter. Vehicular traffic is a significant barrier to red panda movement between habitat patches.

Poaching is also a major threat. In Nepal, red pandas have been unintentionally killed in traps targeted for other wildlife; 121 skins were confiscated between 2008 and 2018. In Myanmar, the red panda is threatened by hunting using guns and traps; since roads to the border with China were built starting in the early 2000s, red panda skins and live animals have been traded and smuggled across the border. In southwestern China, the red panda is hunted for its fur, especially for the highly valued bushy tails, from which hats are produced. The red panda population in China has been reported to have decreased by 40 per cent over the last 50 years, and the population in western Himalayan areas are considered to be smaller. Between 2005 and 2017, 35 live and seven dead red pandas were confiscated in Sichuan, and several traders were sentenced to 3–12 years of imprisonment. A month-long survey of 65 shops in nine Chinese counties in the spring of 2017 revealed only one in Yunnan offered hats made of red panda skins, and red panda tails were offered in an online forum.