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RED PANDA
 
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Ailuropodidae
Genus species: fulgens styani
DESCRIPTION
Known as the lesser panda, hun-ho, wah, and red cat bear
Medium-sized raccoon-like mammal with a thick rusty to deep chestnut colored coat. The tail is long and bushy with broad brown and ginger rings.
The forepaws have a specialized wrist bone called the radial sesamoid, and an extended pad on the sole and on the first digit to assist in climbing and grasping bamboo.
19-24 inches high and its tail is between 11-19 inches
Males weigh 8-14 pounds and females weigh 10-13 pounds
Life span of up to 14 years in captivity
The word panda means "bamboo eater."
HABITAT
Live in the steep, forested mountain slopes of the eastern Himalayas of India, Nepal and Burma, at elevations of 7,200 and 16,000 ft.
Live in bamboo thickets, giant rhododendron, and oak of these temperate forests
Tolerates colder temperatures than the giant panda
Rests and shelters in trees and rock crevasses
DIET
Mainly bamboo, plus grasses, roots, acorns, berries and lichen. They also sometimes take insects, eggs, young birds and small rodents.
In captivity they eat a specially formulated "panda biscuit" supplemented with cut fresh bamboo.
BEHAVIOR
Crepuscular (active between dusk and dawn), sleeping in trees during the day, and arboreal (well adapted for climbing).
Adults are generally solitary, but sometimes travel in pairs or small family groups
Mark their territory with scent from an anal gland, urine and feces. Their trails are also marked automatically with scent from glands on the soles of the feet.
REPRODUCTION
Mating season is from January to March. During this time each female comes into breeding condition for about 14 days.
Males fight over the right to mate with females in breeding condition.
Gestation period is 100-150 days, with births occurring from May to July.
Are sexually mature at 18 months
Give birth to one to four cubs
Cubs are blind but fully covered with hair
PREDATORS
Snow leopards, leopards, dholes (red dogs)
PERSONAL TIDBITS
The Red River Zoo acquired two Red Pandas from the Cincinnati Zoo. Tsaka arrived October 27, 1998. Her name means "mountain" in Tibetan and she was born June 28, 1996 at the Calgary Zoo. Chang arrived April 21, 1999. His name means "north" in Tibetan and he was born June 27, 1998 at the Cincinnati Zoo. At the Zoo the pandas eat bamboo leaves, leaf-eater biscuits, and bananas. Their favorite foods are grapes and bananas. Chang loves to watch and play in the pond in his exhibit as its being filled. Tsaka enjoys lying up in the tree and sunning herself.
Liwu was born June 28, 2000 making her the first Red Panda born in the state of North Dakota.
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