RED PANDAS- A rare yet a very remarkable animal, is believed to be one of the pandas which are hardly ever found around us and when found are known to be attractive enough to lure you in their antics. Unlike the conventional black and white wolf that we address pandas as, red pandas look nothing like them, and are thus intermittent to an extent that no one even knows about their complete habits and personality!

They are even known as one of the fastest climbers in this world of animals!

RED PANDAS CLIMBING A BRANCH OF A TREE

Red Pandas are known to be the last living creature belonging to the genus of AILURUS udner the family of Ailuridae. Generally they belong to the Eastern Himalayas and China, and are given various names such as; in Nepal they are known by the name: bhalu biralo. Red pandas are even known as lesser pandas or red- cat bear. There has been a huge controversy regarding their name and their origins but it is believed that they originally came from the superfamily of Musteloida. Another mis-guided principle follows that red pandas come down from the families of the giant pandas, this is false and has been certified the same according to many institutions as well.

ORIGINS & HABITAT OF THE RED PANDAS:

Red pandas are known to originally be native to the Eastern Himalayas and China and thus is endemic to the forests of the former and tends to ranges from the foothills of Himalayas from Western China to Nepal. They end up living in this area as they are best suited to live in the area consisting of Mixed Deciduous trees or Conifer trees that are usually found even in places like Arunachal Pradesh as well as southern part of Tibet. Like any other panda, it loves BAMBOOS and can hog onto them throughout the day, if required.

It is believed that the Red Panda lives in an altitude and temperature of:

• ALTITUDE: 7,200 & 15,700 ft. or between 2,200 & 4,800 metres.

• TEMPERATURE: In between 10-25⁰ C or in between 50 to 77⁰ F.

There are two sub-species to the Red Pandas which are commonly known as the following:

• Western Red Panda: known to be existing in the areas of Nepal, Assam, Sikkim & Bhutan

• Styan’s Red Panda: known to be existing in the areas of China and northern Burma

RED PANDA’S DIET:

Red Panda are known to be one of the most unique animal which is an HERBIVOROUS CARNIVORAN. Red Pandas belong to the member of the order CARNIVORA yet Red Pandas are not really carnivores, they are Herbivores! This is because a Red Pandas diet includes mostly of bamboo leaves and bamboo shoots. It is occasionally that Red Pandas are seen having fruits, vegetables and it is very rare to see them have an egg or a bird.

It is one of those rare facts that Red Pandas are known to have a FAKE SWEET TOOTH!

In accordance to a study, results specified that Red Pandas preferred three types of artificial sugars:

• Neotame
• Splenda
• Sugarfree

Making them one of the only non-primate which is able to taste such sugars; fake sugars.

RED-COAT PANDAS:

The red fur coat on Red Pandas is known to be a unique feature which allows for these Red Pandas to save themselves from marauders like the Snow Leopard. There is a common misconception that their red fur coat doesn’t allow for them to camouflage in the forests, but it is believed that the very same allows for Red Pandas to be able to hide behind branches of fir trees which are usually covered with brown-reddish moss.

RED PANDAS TWEET:

The conception about pandas howling gets removed when one listens to Red Pandas twitter!

Red Pandas are known to carry with themselves the ability to tweet and thus do not sound like one of those Kung-Fu pandas panda like we see up in the movies. Contrary to prior beliefs, they are known to have the ability to actually sound in-tune due to their unique twittering.

RED PANDAS- DOMESTICATED OR NOT?

There has been a lot of confusion regarding domesticating a Red Panda, and the only viable solution that there might be to all of this haphazard discussion could be this- THERE IS NO ANSWER!

There is a common viewpoint that people who are well-off (REALLY WELL-OFF) may have the resources to domesticate Red Panda and create an environment in their respective houses so as to keep them- Indira Gandhi, the famous ex- Prime Minister of India is known to have a Red Panda as a pet during her childhood.

But then comes the other side which speaks about how unruly it becomes for the Red Panda to be able to adjust themselves to such unknown environment- they end up living a shorter life than their designated span- being of 12-18 years. Thus, it is believed that domestication of the Red Panda is not a viable option for all.

RED PANDAS- EXTINCT?

According to the IUCN, the http://www.iucn.org/ shave been termed to be “VULNERABLE”, not extinct. For those who don’t know, vulnerable is a term used for animals who have a ratio of being alive in the range of 0-10000, and not more, which means there are only those few Red Pandas that are existing in our world. Extinction is a bar that has been hanging on their heads for a long time and the situation could get worse if the following are not stopped:

• Poaching
• Habitat Loss
• Fragmentation
• Inbreeding depression

Such threats are not only scary but risky if they actually get carried out- losing any kind of animal is a loss to the society and even the world at large.

We must stop this hindrance from being carried forward and make sure such invasions in the animals life shall be stopped, immediately!

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