This week’s species has always been a favorite of mine. Honestly, I was shocked that they are endangered because I remember seeing them so often in pictures or at the zoo. I even have a plush at my house because they are so cute ☹

So drumroll….

Endangered Species of the Week:         The Red Panda

Scientific Name: Ailurus fulgens

Yay! So we already looked at the Giant Panda, but don’t get these two confused!

Red pandas, like giant pandas, are bamboo eaters native to Asia’s high forests. However, the two species are not closely related. Red pandas are much smaller than giant pandas and are the only living member of their taxonomic family.

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. Primarily an herbivore, the name panda is said to come from the Nepali word ‘ponya,’ which means bamboo or plant eating animal.

There are less than 10,000 left.

 

Fun Facts:

• Red pandas share the giant panda’s pseudo-thumb, a modified wrist bone used to grasp bamboo when feeding.
• In very cold temperatures, red pandas can become dormant, lowering their metabolic rate and raising it every few hours as they wake up to look for food.
• Their red coat color acts as a camouflage within the canopy of fir trees where branches are covered with clumps of reddish-brown moss and white lichens.
• Red pandas scent-mark territories using anal glands and urine, as well as scent glands located between their footpads. These scent glands on the bottom of red pandas’ feet exude a colorless liquid that is odorless to humans.
• Bamboo constitutes about 95% of the red panda’s diet.

What Is Threatening Them?

Their primary threats are habitat loss and degradation, human interference, and poaching.

Habitat loss is primarily attributed to logging, grazing livestock, demand for firewood, human encroachment, and farming. This is so harmful because almost 50% of the red panda’s habitat is in the Eastern Himalayas. The loss of their unique habitat makes it hard for the panda population to come back up as they can’t live anywhere else.

Herds of livestock can also compete with red pandas for available bamboo leaves and degrade their habitat.

Red pandas are often killed when they get caught in traps meant for other animals such as wild pigs and deer. They are also poached for their distinctive pelts in China and Myanmar. Red panda fur caps or hats have been found for sale in Bhutan.

These threats to red pandas are intensified by climate change and natural disasters, inadequate enforcement of laws and regulations, and limited investment in red panda conservation by local governments.

What Is Being Done?

Red pandas are legally protected in India, Bhutan, China, Nepal and Myanmar.

The Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute has been at the forefront of red panda conservation, with more than 100 surviving cubs born since 1962.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has prioritized four major categories of action for conserving red pandas: protect against habitat loss, reduce habitat degradation, reduce deaths of red pandas (through poaching and removing man-made threats) and improve awareness.

What Can You Do?

Support organizations like the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute that research better ways to protect and care for this animal and other endangered species. Consider donating your time, money or goods.

Stay informed about the environment and endangered species and make sustainable decisions!

We got this!!

See you next week!

Sources

https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/red-panda

https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/red-panda