Lesser or red panda (Ailurus fulgens) Red panda (eng.). Red panda
Systematic position of the red panda for a long time it was unclear. It was classified either as a raccoon family, or as a bear family, or as a separate family. However, recent genetic studies have shown that the red panda forms its own family, the Little Pandas, which, together with the families of raccoons, skunks and mustelids, forms the superfamily Martenidae.
The red panda's range is limited to the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces of China, northern Burma, Bhutan, Nepal and northeastern India. It is not found west of Nepal. Lives in mountain bamboo forests at an altitude of 2000-4000 m above sea level in a temperate climate.
The ancestors of today's pandas were much more widespread; their remains are found in Eastern Europe and North America. However, these animals were obviously adapted to a certain type of climate, with the change of which their range sharply decreased.
The red panda leads a predominantly nocturnal (or rather, twilight) lifestyle; during the day it sleeps in a hollow, curled up and covering its head with its tail. In case of danger, it also climbs trees. On the ground, pandas move slowly and awkwardly, but they climb trees well, but nevertheless they feed mainly on the ground.
Although the red panda is a member of the order of carnivores, 95% of its diet consists of young leaves and shoots of bamboo. The remaining 5% are various fruits, berries, mushrooms, bird eggs and even small rodents.
Unlike the giant panda, the small panda is very selective in its diet. If " bamboo bear“Eats almost all parts of bamboo, the red panda looks for the softer shoots. Observations have shown that red pandas spend 13 hours a day feeding.
When calm, red pandas make short sounds reminiscent of bird chirping. The red panda has a peaceful character and easily takes root in captivity.
Although the red panda's range occupies a very large area and natural enemies she has little, this species is included in the lists of the International Red Book with the status “Endangered”. The fact is that the density of animals in nature is very low, and, in addition, the habitats of the red panda can easily be destroyed.
Fortunately, the red panda breeds well in captivity. Currently, about 300 of these animals are kept in 85 zoos around the world, and the same number have been born in captivity over the past two decades. (based on Wikipedia)
Known to zoologists as the red panda, this bright red predator, about the size of a large cat, looks more like a raccoon than a giant panda. And this is natural: the latter represents the genus of giant pandas, and the first – the genus of small pandas.
Description of the red panda
The red panda was extremely favored by Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, and the first mention of “hon ho” or “fiery fox” (that’s how it is called in the Middle Kingdom) appeared in the 13th century. Europeans learned about the existence of the red panda only in the 19th century thanks to Frederic Cuvier, who jumped ahead of the Englishman Thomas Hardwicke, who saw it before the Frenchman.
But Cuvier was the first to return to Europe and managed to assign the Latin name Ailurus fulgens to the predator, translated as “brilliant cat” (which is very close to the truth). The modern name panda goes back to the Nepalese poonya (punya).
Appearance
In terms of size, the red panda is comparable to a domestic cat, weighing up to 4–6 kg with a body length of 0.51–0.64 m and an impressive tail of almost half a meter. She has an elongated body, covered with thick and tall hair, which makes the panda seem more plump than it actually is. The red panda has a wide head with small ears, leading to a funny, pointed muzzle with shiny dark eyes. The exterior of males and females is the same. The red and thick tail is decorated with several (up to 12) transverse light rings on a darker background.
The limbs are relatively short and strong, ending in hairy feet, adapted for walking on ice and snow. When walking, the feet, whose toes are armed with noticeably curved (semi-retractable) claws, only touch the ground halfway. The predator has a so-called accessory finger on the wrist of the front paws, which is a hypertrophied radial bone of the sesamoid bone. It is opposed to the other fingers and helps to hold the bamboo shoots.
Important! Not all animals have a fiery (red) shade of fur - its main color depends on the subspecies (there are 2 in total). Thus, the red panda Staiana is slightly darker than the western red panda, although colors vary within the subspecies. Often there are not so much red as yellow-brown individuals.
The rusty shades in the color of the predator serve as reliable camouflage (allowing you to rest or sleep serenely), especially against the backdrop of red lichens that cover fir trunks and branches in China.
Character and lifestyle
The red panda shies away from society and lives mostly in isolation, allowing its partner only during the mating season. Pandas stick to personal areas, with males occupying twice or even three times large area(5–11 km2) than females. The boundaries are marked with scent marks - the secretions of the glands located around the anus and on the soles, as well as urine and droppings. The smell carries information about the sex/age and fertility of a particular individual.
Red panda leads twilight image life, sleeping during the day in hollows or nests built on evergreen trees. When going into the arms of Morpheus, they take several characteristic poses - they curl up into a ball, covering their head with their tail, or, like American raccoons, they sit on the branches, lowering their head on their chest. When the forest is especially warm, animals often lie flat on branches (belly down), allowing their limbs to hang freely at their sides. After waking up or having lunch, pandas wash their faces and lick themselves completely, then stretch, rubbing their backs/belly against a tree or rock.
This is interesting! When moving through bushes and trees, the tail serves as a balancer, but loses this function when the animal descends to the ground. When descending from a tree, the head is directed downward, and the tail is not only responsible for balance, but also slows down the panda by wrapping around the trunk.
The animals run quite quickly on the ground and even loose snow, periodically jumping. Red pandas are extremely playful: when having fun with each other, they spread their front paws and stand on their hind legs, imitating an attack. In a comic fight, the panda takes the opponent to the ground and often bites his tail, never inflicting wounds.
How long do red pandas live?
In the wild, predators live approximately 8–10 years, almost double the average when they end up in zoological parks. Here they live up to 14, and sometimes up to 18.5 years: at least this record was set by one of the red pandas that lived in the zoo.
By the way, taking care of the length of their lives, “brilliant cats” regulated their metabolism in such a way that they learned to independently lower and increase the metabolic rate (and in this they came closer to sloths). IN harsh winters animals reduce energy expenditure and conserve heat using energy-saving techniques: for example, they curl up into a tight ball, surrounding themselves with a thick cloud of fur (even covering their soles).
Range, habitats
Ailurus fulgens has a rather limited range, not extending beyond the borders of the Chinese provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan, as well as northeast India. Already to the west of Nepal no one has seen animals. The southeastern zone is called the homeland of the red panda. Himalayan mountains, where predators climb to a height of 2–4 km. The ancestors of modern pandas were found over a larger area: this is evidenced by their remains discovered in Eastern Europe and North America.
Important! According to paleogeneticists, the sharp narrowing of the range of red pandas was caused by a change in the usual climate - animals prefer temperate, with average temperature 10–25 degrees Celsius and precipitation up to 350 mm per year.
The red panda chooses mixed tall-trunk forests, consisting of coniferous (fir) and deciduous species (oak, maple and chestnut). The latter serve as reliable protection for the lower tier created by bamboo and rhododendron. For most of the year, these forests are shrouded in clouds, which favorably affects the growth of lichens and mosses covering stones, trunks and branches. There is so much vegetation in these forests that the roots are closely intertwined with each other, holding the soil even on the steepest slopes and accumulating the maximum precipitation that falls here.
Diet of the red panda
The panda spends more than half a day (up to 13 hours) searching for and eating food, which is obtained mainly on the ground. The red panda is a very strange predator, since its diet consists almost entirely of vegetation:
- bamboo leaves/shoots (95%);
- fruits and roots;
- lush herbs and lichens;
- berries and acorns;
- mushrooms
The red panda turns into a real predator, perhaps, only in winter, when it switches to small rodents, insects and bird eggs to give the body more energy. The red panda's digestion is structured like that of all carnivores - a simple (not multi-chambered) stomach and a short intestine, which makes it difficult to absorb plant fibers.
This is interesting! The panda's body uses only a quarter of the energy resources contained in the bamboo it eats. The panda's teeth (38 in total), especially the molars, equipped with special tubercles, help the panda grind coarse vegetation.
Due to its complex relationship with cellulose, the red panda chooses young and tender shoots, eating up to 4 kg per day. Leaves are added to the shoots - over 1.5 kg per day (the volume of feed compensates for its low calorie content). Paradoxically, red pandas living in captivity refuse any meat. The predator crushes (and even then not always) live chickens brought into the cage, but never eats them.
Reproduction and offspring
Mating games begin for red pandas early winter, usually in January. During this time, males and females interact wildly. The former leave their scent marks everywhere, while the latter demonstrate in every possible way their readiness for intercourse.
The activity of females is due to the transience of estrus: it occurs only once a year and lasts from 18 to 24 hours. Pregnancy lasts from 114 to 145 days, but fetal development is not observed immediately, but with a delay of 20–70 days (average 40). Closer to childbirth, the female builds a nest, lining a suitable hollow or rocky crevice with grass, branches and leaves. Pandas give birth from mid-May to mid-July, bringing one puppy (less often two, even less often 3-4).
Newborns are covered with fawn fur, cannot see anything and weigh approximately 110–130 g. The mother licks the offspring, applying scent marks to them, which help identify the pups when the mother returns to the nest with food. At first, she is always close to the brood, but after a week she goes quite far away, coming only to feed and lick.
This is interesting! Puppies begin to see the light at about three weeks, but do not leave native home another 3 months, making the first independent foray at night. The mother weans them when they reach 5 months of age.
The puppies are very attached to their mother, but are not familiar with their father: he leaves his partner immediately after sexual intercourse. Communication with the mother is interrupted when the panda prepares for the next conception and becomes extremely nervous. Young animals become comparable in size to older ones by about a year, but are capable of reproducing offspring only by one and a half years.
Fans of Mozilla Firefox, today we will talk about an animal that is directly related to this browser. Its emblem depicts an animal that looks like a fox. But is it? Firefox translates to "fire fox", that's right. But few people know that the Chinese name for the small (red) panda - “hon ho” - has the same meaning. And it is this animal, and not a fox, that is part of the logo of this browser.
Relationship between small and big panda very remote. Many millions of years ago, approximately in the early Tertiary period, they lived on Earth common ancestor, which lived on the territory of modern Eurasia.
There are 2 subspecies of this animal: the western red panda ( Ailurus fulgens fulgens), living in Nepal and Bhutan, and the red panda Staiana ( Ailurus fulgens styani), living in the area of southern China and northern Myanmar. The main difference between them is their size and coloring - the red panda Staiana is larger and darker than its western relative.
In nature, red pandas are now found only in a few Chinese provinces (Sichuan and Yunnan), Nepal, Bhutan, northern Burma, and northeastern India. Their habitat is coniferous forests(mostly fir), which alternate with deciduous tree species: oak, maple, chestnut and others. They are necessary for the growth of bamboo, the red panda's main food. Such forests can be found at an altitude of 2000-4000 meters above sea level. Most of the year they are shrouded in clouds, which creates favorable conditions for the development of mosses and lichens. You’ll find out why we mentioned them a little later.
Red pandas grow to size big cat, but due to their thick and long fur they seem larger than they actually are. The body length including the fluffy tail is about 80-120 centimeters, and average weight equal to 4-6 kilograms. The short legs are equipped with strongly curved claws, which only partially extend forward, and the feet are covered with short fur, which helps when walking on ice or snow. There is an “extra finger” on the front paws, thanks to which the panda can hold bamboo branches while eating. Externally, males are not much different from females.
Dark abdomen and paws 
These animals have a very beautiful coloring - dark or light red, but not everywhere, but mostly on the back, sides and tail. The belly and paws are dark brown or even black. The red tail has light rings. The animal's head is decorated with white areas on the muzzle, on the cheeks, along the edges of the ears and around the eyes.
Red tabby tail It was not by chance that nature prepared this color for this animal. Red color fulfills protective function and allows the red panda, while resting or sleeping, to remain unnoticeable among the red lichens that strew the trunks and branches of coniferous trees, in particular fir.
In the habitats of these animals, the average air temperature fluctuates around 10-25 degrees and precipitation constantly falls - rain or snow. This means that the fur must retain heat well. During particularly cold periods, in order to keep warm, the panda curls up on branches or in a hollow into a tight ball and covers its head with its tail, like a blanket.
They spend most of their time in trees, where they feel like fish in water. They come down to earth for food. They are most active in the evening, and during the day they settle down comfortably in hollows and sleep. A long tail helps them maintain balance while in the trees. Descending to the ground, they hold it straight without touching the ground.
Each panda, whether male or female, has its own territory, and a considerable one. For males it is about 5 km 2, and for females it is 2 times less. They mark it with special marks: secretions from the anal glands, urine or piles of droppings, thanks to which the animals immediately learn which neighbors live next to them.
Adults live alone, uniting in groups only during the breeding season, which begins in January. Sometimes you can meet a small group of pandas even in the off season - this is an adult female with her grown-up offspring.
The baby is born only 90-145 days after mating, but a “real” pregnancy lasts only about 50 days. This is explained by the fact that the fetus begins to develop only after a sufficiently long period of time after conception.
Before giving birth, the female builds a nest for herself in a hollow or in a rock crevice. Typically, red pandas give birth to 1-2 cubs, sometimes there may be more, but in the end only one will survive. They develop very slowly. Up to 5 months of age they feed on mother's milk. Initially, the fur of the cubs is colored gray, and only after 3 months do they begin to acquire a red color. The cubs can stay next to their mother for a whole year until a new generation appears. By this period, most often, young animals themselves reach sexual maturity, separate from the female and begin an independent life.
Even though they are carnivores, the majority of their diet consists of plant food(almost 95%). These are primarily young and fresh bamboo shoots, mushrooms, berries and fruits. But sometimes they can snack on small rodents and bird eggs.
As a result, dental system They are like herbivores - the structure of their molars allows them to grind plant food. As we can see, this panda's food is very low in calories, and to get required amount energy, the animal has to eat about 2 kilograms of food per day. In zoos they are fed fruits, leaves, bamboo buds, grass, rice cooked in milk and sweet milk.
They have few enemies. This Snow Leopard and man. The second one is much more dangerous than the first one. They can quickly climb a tree from a leopard, but you can’t hide from a person anywhere. Now this animal is listed in the International Red Book under the status of “endangered”. The main reasons for the decline in the number of small pandas are deforestation and hunting for their beautiful fur, which is used to make hats.
Fortunately for us, red pandas reproduce well in captivity, since zoos have all the favorable conditions for development. In nature, their life expectancy is approximately 8-10 years, while in zoos it is about 15 years.
Classification
Family: Little pandas
Squad: Predatory
Class: Mammals
Type: Chordata
Subtype: Vertebrates
Kingdom: Animals
Domain: Eukaryotes
Dimensions: Height is just over 50 centimeters. Males weigh from 3.7 to 6.2 kilograms, and females weigh from 4.2 to six kilograms. Body length 51-54 cm, tail length from 28 to 48 centimeters
Lifespan: 8-10 years, in captivity – 14 years
The red panda is a little similar to, for example, they have the same clumsy movements, they eat and sleep most of the time, and on their face there are similar dark circles around the eyes.
However, this is not a bear at all. The size of the animals is slightly larger than a cat, they make sounds reminiscent of the cry of birds, and in terms of family ties they are closest to them.
The panda gained its greatest popularity after the release of the popular animated film “Kung Fu Panda”.
But if we're talking about about the red Chinese panda, this animal is not at all similar in appearance to the familiar image associated with this name.
The Chinese red or Lesser panda - “cat-bear”, “fire cat” - was first described in Chinese literature in the 13th century.
Europeans learned about this “fox-like” animal 600 years later. Unfortunately, now this animal can be found in the wild - only in the mountain forests of the Chinese provinces and in northeast India.
In the photos taken in conditions wildlife, there is an obvious similarity between the red panda and a fox: that is why scientists attribute to it the name “fire fox”.
Red panda at the Rotterdam Zoo. Netherlands
Habitat
The habitat is limited between the villages of Yunnan, Sichuan in China, and northern Burma, Bhutan, Nepal and northeast India. It will not be possible to meet this animal further west than Nepal.
They prefer to live in the highlands, from 1800 to 4800 thousand meters above water level, in temperate climate, with an average temperature not subject to sudden changes.
These animals are covered with thick fluffy fur, so, like , they feel very uncomfortable in hot temperatures. The suitable air temperature for them is from 17 to 25°C.
If the temperature is higher, it is very dangerous for the health of animals. It is important that the habitat has enough deciduous and coniferous trees, bamboo and rhododendron.
This animal is peaceful and benevolent, and it has no enemies, but when it feels danger, it can run away to hide in a hollow tree, in rocks or on high branches.
The remains of the ancestors of these animals were found over larger territories, but their modern representatives are quite picky about the climate, so their range has decreased significantly.
The red panda spends most of the day in the trees
Characteristic
Red in many photos chinese panda looks like a very kind and sweet animal, but in nature they have to fight fiercely for existence.
Their main enemy in the wild is the snow leopard, from which they hide in trees or gorges.
Red pandas are classified as predators, however, they are quite peaceful and friendly animals; they can only hunt small rodents or steal eggs from birds’ nests.
They have virtually no struggle for territory.
Males usually take much more space, a territory twice the size of that occupied by the female.
It is not entirely easy to tame them, but, as practice shows, they take root both in the wild and in artificially created habitats; the most important thing is to comply with all the requirements for habitat and nutrition, so as not to harm the health and life of these cute animals.
Important! This species is listed in the Red Book; hunting for them is prohibited. Special reserves are being created to preserve this species of little pandas.
In the wild, the Chinese red panda prefers to stay awake at night during its life. During the day they sleep in a hollow or on tree branches.
When they see a threat, they climb high into the trees and camouflage themselves using their color.
Animals feel much more comfortable in trees than on flat surfaces, where they move unevenly, slowly and awkwardly.
Small red pandas have their own language, which is very similar to a bird whistle. They make short, quiet sounds that also resemble the chirping of birds.
Little pandas playing with pumpkins
Interesting! The red panda is depicted on the logo of the Mozilla Firefox browser, and not a fox, as many people think.
Appearance
Externally, the Chinese panda has soft, fluffy and long fur.
Its color is very similar to a fox: tail and top part bodies are colored red-brown; the belly is dark, maybe black.
The paws are also dark, have very sharp and quite long claws, like those of a claw. Thanks to their sharp claws, Chinese red pandas have natural excellent tree climbing abilities.
According to the description compiled on the basis of observations, red-orange rings form on the tail of animals as they grow older.
A red panda yawns while holding onto a branch tightly to avoid falling.
Pandas have a short muzzle, but their body is quite long. The ears are white, neat, slightly pointed in shape. The muzzle is covered with white fur, and the nose is black.
The animals' eyes are dark, and under the eyes the fur is colored with dark stripes. On inside The paws are also fur covered.
Their resemblance to a panda bear is due to the color of their muzzle, with dark circles around the eyes, and a leisurely, awkward gait. In addition, they also spend most of their time searching for food, eating and sleeping.
Interesting! For residents of India, these exotic animals serve as pets. This is of great concern to biologists and ecologists, as this could significantly reduce the population of red pandas.
Red panda having a meal
Key Features
Pandas spend the greatest amount of time throughout their lives being alone.
And this is not surprising, because these lazy, clumsy animals spend all their time doing nothing but eating and sleeping. Only during the mating season they look for a mate.
Each panda owns its own territory and does not allow others into it. However, due to their natural peacefulness, they rarely lay claim to what belongs to others.
They become more active early in the morning and late at night, and mostly sleep during the day.
Can live with maximum temperature 25 degrees, but lower is better. If the temperature is higher, they may die.
Interesting! Representatives of this species spend sixteen hours a day searching for and chewing food. The rest of the time, the animals sleep high in the trees.
Red panda on vacation
Nutrition
The red panda is a carnivore and its diet includes eggs. different birds and the smallest rodents, but this is quite rare, in percentage- around 5%.
But it should be noted that the main diet (95%) consists of bamboo leaves, berries, grass and mushrooms.
They are called predators only because of their structure digestive system, however, in fact they are herbivores.
Also, pandas love to eat plant roots, acorns and lichens. Every day, the Chinese red panda consumes approximately 4 kilograms of plant food.
In captivity, pandas are fed a wide variety of foods:
- milk;
- rice;
- grass;
- fruits.
The diet of red pandas is quite unique and special.
Therefore, those who want to keep a panda as a pet will find it very difficult to provide it with a good and balanced diet.
Otherwise, the animal may develop diseases of the digestive system.
The red panda's diet consists of 95% plant foods.
Reproduction
The mating season and breeding stage for pandas occurs in January and lasts until early March. Females carry cubs for 4-5 months. Fetal development lasts about 50 days.
Before the birth of the babies, the female builds a nest of branches high in the tree. This is where the animals appear.
The cubs are born blind and deaf, and very tiny, their weight is 100 grams.
The female gives birth to up to 4 cubs, but most often only one survives. Pandas are considered adults at 2-3 years of age. Children remain with their mother for 1 year until she gives birth to new babies.
The color of newborns is beige or gray, but not red at all; they acquire this color already at a more mature age.
At three months, the color also changes, and then more and more they become like adult pandas.
A panda can have offspring only once a year, which is why their numbers increase at a very slow pace.
In its natural habitat, a red panda can live for about 10 years; in captivity, its life can last up to 12 years. And in exceptional and extremely rare cases - up to 19 years of age.
Red panda with cub
As is already known from the description, the Chinese red panda takes root well in an artificial habitat. Animals are not entirely easy, but quickly tamed and become quite tame.
On this moment About 300 pandas are kept in 85 zoos around the world, where there are all conditions for them. Also, the panda reproduces well in captivity.
Today, there are about ten thousand pandas left in the wild.
Their individual needs played a cruel joke on them, because in order to survive, they need a specific climate and a forest with certain vegetation, otherwise they simply will not survive.
Therefore, if you do not take care of nature, thoughtlessly cut down forests, burn them, or simply allow them to die, you can lose many species of animals, not only red pandas, whose numbers, by the way, are decreasing every year.
Due to the fact that the forests in which these animals lived are being mercilessly cut down, their habitats are being significantly reduced.
Poachers also had a hand in the extinction of this species of charming animals. These criminals are attracted to the bright skins of animals from which they want to make money.
IN Lately In India, they have become popular pets and are captured from the wild to be bred for the captive market.
To combat this situation, animals are placed in sanctuaries.
Red panda sleeps on a tree branch
The red panda, due to its physiological characteristics, can live only in limited areas in the wild, because it needs special climatic conditions and a sufficient amount of plant food.
Moreover, due to catastrophic deforestation, these animals are becoming fewer and fewer.
They are even listed in the Red Book, so many reserves are engaged in artificial breeding these animals are kept in captivity to maintain the species and prevent extinction.
In India, these exotic animals, like , are considered an excellent option pet, however, it is worth remembering about the conditions of detention so as not to harm the life and health of animals, of which there are fewer and fewer every day.
Red Panda: Miniature Fire Bear
The red panda bears a slight resemblance to the bear of the same name. The animal is slightly larger in size than a cat, and makes sounds reminiscent of the cry of birds.
And remember we recently, today let’s get acquainted with their relatives, but red ones :-)
Lesser or Red Panda(lat. Ailurus fulgens - “cat painted like fire”, “cat-bear”, “fiery cat”).
In China, due to its color and similarity in size to a fox, the red panda is called hunho - “fire fox” (eng. firefox), this phrase was used by Mozilla, calling its browser “Mozilla Firefox”.
A modern, poetic and incredibly appropriate name for the Red Panda, “brilliant, bright cat,” was proposed by a French naturalist and scientist F. Cuvier.
The history of the discovery and description of the red panda is interesting. Written mentions of this beast in China go back to the 13th century, but Europeans learned about it only in the 19th century. It was officially “presented” to the public in 1821 by the English general and naturalist Thomas Hardwicke, who collected material on the territory of the English colonies. He suggested calling this animal the word “wha” - one of its Chinese names, based on the imitation of the “hha” sounds made by this same animal. In addition, the general said, the Chinese call him “hun-ho” and “poonya.”
However, Hardwick failed to become " godfather» newly discovered animal. He was delayed in returning to England with his materials, and Latin name - Ailurus fulgens, which can be translated as “brilliant cat,” was given to the new animal by the French naturalist Frederic Cuvier. The English scientific community was infuriated by such “theft,” but according to the rule adopted by the naturalists themselves, once the scientific name given to an organism cannot be changed. And the “discoverer” of a species is considered to be the one who assigned this name to it.
However, writes zoologist Miles Roberts, perhaps this is for the best. After all, the poetic epithet “brilliant”, “bright” is much better suited for such a beautiful animal than the incomprehensible “hha”. Frederic Cuvier himself wrote about the new animal as “a beautiful creature, one of the most beautiful quadrupeds.”
The name proposed by General Hardwick did not take root, and as English name animal. Although the word “wha” can sometimes be found in English-language literature, the general’s compatriots preferred another Chinese name - “poonya”, which they quickly converted into “panda”. So “haha” became a panda.
When in 1869 Pierre Armand David, a French missionary to China and a passionate naturalist, reported a new beast of prey, which has a similar tooth structure and feeds on bamboo, was also called the panda. And since this animal was much larger, it was natural that it began to be called the “big panda,” and “xha,” accordingly, became the small or red panda - most often now it is referred to by this name.
And then the red panda was forgotten for a long time. All the scientists' attention was focused on the “bamboo bear”. To study in detail the features of the biology of “xha” - first in zoos, and then in places natural habitat- started only recently.
Probably everyone knows about the giant panda. This large black and white “bear” has become the symbol of the World Wildlife Fund and the prototype for many cute toys. But his relative - small, or red,panda- is much less known. But in vain. This animal, although smaller in size than the giant panda, is no less cute. A luxurious thick red-red fur coat, a short light muzzle, large widely spaced ears trimmed with wool, a long fluffy tail with dark stripes... The red panda is slightly larger in size than a domestic cat: body length - 50-60 cm, tail - 30-50 cm , weight - about 5 kg.
The red panda is widespread in Southwestern China, Nepal, Burma (Myanmar), Bhutan and northeast India and is found here in mountainous areas - at an altitude of 2000 to 4800 m above sea level. So, although the habitat of this animal is located at the latitude of the Persian Gulf, the climate in its habitat is moderate, one might even say cool. True, the air temperature here is relatively constant throughout the year, and winter and summer differ rather in the amount of precipitation. But it’s never really dry in those places either - rain, constant fog... In short, it’s cool and damp. And the forests growing in these conditions are by no means tropical, but mixed - of coniferous (mainly fir) and deciduous species, with a dense undergrowth of rhododendron and, especially, bamboo. It is in these forests that the red panda lives.
The paws are short, strong, with semi-retractable claws, which help the panda to easily climb and descend trees. Firefox lives up to its name. The panda's color is bright red or even red and orange. The panda's muzzle is elongated and really looks like a fox.
In appearance really has little in common with "Big Panda". Archaeological excavations have shown that the red panda is a very distant relative Giant panda ( Ailuropoda melanoleuca) . Their common ancestor supposedly lived millions of years ago. It was widespread throughout Eurasia.
Fossils of Red Pandas have been found from eastern China to western Britain. Archaeologists have found the remains of Red Pandas even in the territory of North America(in the states of Tennessee and Washington) and suggest that this could be some new subspecies of the Red Panda that lived in the Miocene.
The panda lives in the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces of China, northern Burma, Bhutan, Nepal and northeast India. There are two subspecies of the Red Panda that exist today. First - Western Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens fulgens) lives in the western part of the above region (Nepal, Bhutan). Second subspecies - Lesser (red) panda Staiana (Ailurus fulgens) lives in the east or northeast of its habitat ( southern China and northern Myanmar).
The red panda, Staiana, is supposedly slightly larger and considerably darker than its western relative, although a large number of Variations on the “color-size” theme also exist within the subspecies of the red panda. In this regard, you can find many individuals that are not red, but rather yellowish-brown.
The red panda is a fashionista and a beauty. She has a fluffy tail and very long beautiful claws on her paws.
Red or Lesser pandas lead a predominantly nocturnal, or rather twilight-evening lifestyle, and in most cases they sleep during the day. The bed for Firefox is a warm and cozy hollow in which the panda sleeps, curled up and covering his eyes with his fluffy tail.
In general, the red panda in this position is similar to a domestic cat or fox. In its normal state, the voice of the Lesser Panda is short, weak cries, reminiscent of bird chirping. She can also make a series of whistles and snorts when she gets scared.
Despite the fact that the panda is a representative of the order of carnivores, young leaves and shoots of bamboo make up 95% of the diet of this species. The remaining 5% are various fruits, berries, mushrooms, bird eggs or small rodents, if they turn up, of course.
It should be noted that bamboo is, in fact, a rather inedible plant. Besides the red panda, there are only 4 known species of animals specialized in feeding on this giant cereal - a giant panda, two bamboo rats (one of which is common in China, the other in Brazil) and one of the species Madagascar lemurs. We should not forget that carnivores stand out as a separate order not because they eat animal food - some ungulates, for example, do not disdain it - but because of the presence of special devices for obtaining it and, most importantly, assimilating it. They have appropriate teeth, a simple stomach, and not a multi-chambered one, like ruminants, and a short intestine. And fibrous plant foods are usually not good for them. The situation with the dental system of pandas is relatively good: their molars have numerous tubercles that allow them to grind and chew plant fibers well. But the digestive tract of a red panda is that of a common predator. And therefore, as special studies have shown, the animal’s body absorbs no more than one quarter of the energy contained in the eaten bamboo leaves.
The situation is further complicated by the fact that the red panda, unlike its “ older sister" - the giant panda, is very selective in nutrition. If the “bamboo bear” sends almost all parts of the bamboo into its mouth (except for the lignified trunks, of course), then the red panda looks for leaves and shoots that are more tender. They are, of course, easier to digest, but more difficult to find. Observations have shown that red pandas spend 13 hours a day feeding. But the search for food is an expended effort, the same energy. It turns out to be a vicious circle. Moreover, the climate is not at all hot - probably precisely in order not to waste scarce energy on heating, the red panda acquired such a luxurious fur coat and an amazing shaggy tail. The animal wraps itself around it like a scarf when it lies down to rest, curled up in a tight ball somewhere in a fork in the branches.
Males rarely take part in raising cubs, unless we are talking about small pandas that live in pairs (or in groups) permanently.
Shortly before giving birth, the female builds a nest of branches and leaves in a hollow or cleft in a rock. In this nest, little pandas are born - blind and deaf, weighing only about 100 g, whose color is more like beige than red or orange.
Usually 1-2 cubs, but sometimes four of them will be born at once, but before independent life Rarely does more than one survive. The cubs grow very slowly. Around the 18th day they open their eyes. Only at the age of three months do they acquire the color characteristic of an adult, and they begin to leave the nest and feed on solid food. A little later, having left the nest, they wander with their mother around her area - until mid-winter (and according to other sources, for a whole year).
This is why Small pandas live as a family, because... the cubs simply cannot survive alone. The habitat of the Red Panda occupies a very large area and it has few natural enemies, but this species is included in the lists International Red Book with the status "At risk". The species was classified as endangered with only 2,500 individuals remaining.
The fact is that the density of animals in nature is very low, and, in addition, the habitats of the Red Panda can easily be destroyed. The main danger is the constant deforestation in these regions, as well as poaching and hunting of the red panda in India and southwest China because of its beautiful fur (from which hats are made).
However, unlike Giant Pandas, which refuse to breed in captivity, this problem does not exist with Red Pandas. Currently, 350 of these animals are kept in 85 zoos around the world, and the same number have been born in captivity over the past two decades.
However, the number of red panda cubs in one litter is usually no more than two individuals, and they are born only once a year. Therefore, the population of Little Pandas is still under threat, and even in natural conditions habitat, their mortality rate is very high.
But there is hope that we humans will still correct our own mistakes and be able to save Little Pandas, Giant Pandas and other animals for our future generations. Although it would not hurt to think about the fact that humanity has been engaged in Sisyphean labor for thousands of years.
The systematic position of this animal is still unclear. Big panda in the end, after much debate and complex research, it was considered a representative of the bear family. What about the small one? In various reference books they write about her either as a bear, or as a raccoon, or as a representative of a separate family. Even her family ties with the giant panda are by no means proven. Scientists made a conclusion about the closeness of these animals (back in the time of Pierre David) based on the similarity of nutrition and dental structure. But the peculiarities of the dental system are an adaptation to certain food, and the fact that two species live next door and feed similarly does not prove anything. So this question is still waiting for its researchers.
At one time, relatives of modern pandas, or, in any case, animals similar to them, were very widespread - fossil remains of predators with a similar structure of the dental system are also known from of Eastern Europe, and from North America. However, these animals, according to scientists, were adapted to a certain type of climate, with changes in which the range of pandas sharply decreased.
The red panda is a nocturnal, or rather twilight, animal. She is an excellent tree climber and spends a lot of time among the branches. But in search of food it usually descends to the ground.
Red pandas live alone. “Personal” territory of the female, as observations show recent years, occupies an area of about 2.5 km 2, the male is twice as large. This is a lot for an animal weighing 5 kg, especially a herbivore, since bamboo grows in abundance in those places.
But let’s not forget that not the entire bamboo plant is suitable for red panda food, but only the youngest shoots, which have to be searched for a long time. So the solitary lifestyle of the animals is quite justified.
Fortunately, the red panda breeds well in captivity. Currently, about 300 of these animals are kept in 85 zoos around the world, and the same number have been born in captivity over the past two decades. These cute animals are easily tamed and delight visitors with their charming appearance. True, it is very difficult to keep them even in zoos, and simply impossible at home: the red panda needs too specific a diet. And if fed improperly, these animals quickly die from intestinal diseases.
