Red Panda

The red panda is a beautiful ring-tailed animal that was discovered in 1825 by Fréderic Cuvier.

Its taxonomic classification has been subject to many discussions. Initially it was related to the giant panda, later to raccoons and finally it has been classified in the family Ailuridae; it is the only living representative. 

Its head is rounded, the snout is short, pointed and white, like the chin and cheeks. The large ears are surrounded by long white hair, although the back of the animal is dark. The coat is long and soft, with shades ranging from dark brown to yellow, reddish, dark brown and black. It does not present sexual dimorphism.

It is distributed in Asian countries such as Bhutan, India, Laos, China and Nepal, and its habitat is the temperate forest.

The red panda is a great climber, so it spends most of its life sleeping on tree branches. Being nocturnal, their activity peaks at dusk and dawn.

They are solitary animals and feed on bamboo, fruits, roots and eggs. Females give birth to their young in spring, after 135 days of gestation. They remain with their parents for almost a year.