Research Paper
Animal Description: red pandas typically grow to the size of a house cat, though their big, bushy tails add an additional 18 inches. The pandas use their ringed tails as wraparound blankets in the chilly mountain heights. Like giant pandas, “they have an extended wrist bone that functions almost like a thumb and greatly aids their grip” (“Red Panda Allures effulgent”). Animal Behavior: These animals spend most of their lives in trees and even sleep aloft. When foraging, they are most active at night as well as in the gloaming hours of dusk and dawn. They are shy and solitary except when mating.
Females give birth in the spring and summer, typically to one to four young. Young red pandas remain in their nests for about 90 days, during which time their mother cares for them. Reason for being endangered: Red pandas are endangered, victims of deforestation. Their natural space is shrinking as more and more forests are destroyed by logging and the spread of agriculture. The pandas use their ringed tails as wraparound blankets in the chilly mountain heights. Relatives and Classification: It has been classified as a relative of the giant panda, and also of the raccoon, with which it shares a ringed tail.
Currently, red pandas are considered members of their own unique family. The red panda has been previously classified in the families Procaine (raccoons) and reside (bears), but recent research has placed it in its own family Laurie, in superficial Mustachioed along with Emasculated and Procaine. Two subspecies are recognized: Allures effulgent effulgent: Found in Nepal, northeastern India, Bhutan, and part Of China. Allures effulgent stain: Only found in China and northern Manner. The head and body length of red pandas averages 22 to 25 in, and their tails about 15 to 19 in.
Research paper Notes on Red Panda page 2 Author: Red Panda Network Title of Section: About the Red Panda Overall Title of Website/Database: About the Red Panda Data of Publication: not available Date of visit to website: 3/2/15 URL: http:// redecoration. Org/red_panda/about-the-red-panda/ TOPiC Behavior: Red pandas are generally solitary, but there are a couple of exceptions to the rule. First, young red pandas grow relatively slowly, so they develop extended associations with their mothers that last for over a year. Second, red pandas have short relationships during the annual breeding season.
Red pandas have several ways of marking their territories and home ranges: These include urine, secretions from anal glands, and scents from glands on the pads of their feet. They have also been known to use communal latrine sites to stake out territory and share information with others. In addition, red pandas often communicate using body language and a variety of noises. (“About the Red Panda”) Food: The red panda’s diet is very unusual for a mammal and consists mostly of bamboo. When the weather is warm enough, they also eat insects and fruit.
Although the giant panda eats almost every part of the bamboo plant he red panda only eats the youngest, most tender shoots and leaves. In addition, the red panda chews the bamboo thoroughly, whereas the giant panda hardly chews at all. The red panda’s preference for bamboo is apparently an ancient adaptation, as indicated by fossils of similar animals that have been found in Eastern Europe and North America. Fife cycle: Red pandas have a long gestation period for an animal that weighs only 1 1 pounds at maturity. They also have small litters, producing about two cubs on average.
Despite the amount of food that red pandas eat, they grow quite slowly, reaching adult size after 1 2 months. The young become sexually mature at 18 months. As a result of these characteristics, red pandas have a slow rate of reproduction and have a great deal of difficulty recovering from population declines. Habitat and Range: Red pandas have a large range that extends from western Nepal to northern Manner. The species also lives throughout mountainous areas of southwestern China at elevations between 4,900 and 13,000 feet. Red pandas only live in temperate forests in the foothills of the Himalayas.
The temperature in this region is generally cool, and there is little annual variation. The southern slopes of the mountains trap the water from seasonal monsoons, supporting forests of firs, deciduous hardwoods, and rhododendrons. A bamboo understood grows in these forests and provides the bulk of the red panda’s diet. However, these swaths of bamboo are only found in narrow bands throughout the red panda’s range. Thus, although red pandas are distributed across thousands of miles of territory, they are restricted to these small, fragile areas because of their dependence on the bamboo plants.
Research Paper Notes on Red Panda Page 3 Author: not available Title of Section: Red Panda Overall Title of Website/Database: Red Panda Species WFM Data of Publication: not available Date of visit to website: 3/2/1 5 LLC: HTTPS:// www. Worldliest. Org/species/red-panda Overview: The red panda is slightly larger than a domestic cat with a bear-like body and thick russet fur. 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. Almost 50 percent of the red panda’s habitat is in the Eastern Himalayas.
They use their Eng, bushy tails for balance and to cover themselves in winter, presumably for warmth. Primarily an herbivore, the name panda is said to come from the Nepal word ‘pony,’ which means bamboo or plant eating animal. Why they matter: Almost 50 percent of the red panda’s habitat is in the Eastern Himalayas. The loss of nesting trees and bamboo is causing a decline in red panda populations across much of their range because their forest home is being cleared. They matter because they bring a different kind of presents into the lives of the mountain men near Nepal.
Threats: 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 Manner. Red panda fur caps or hats have been found for sale in Bhutan. They are also victims of deforestation What we can do: Approximately 38 percent of the total potential red panda habitat is in Nepal. We work with yak herders and other community groups to reduce human impact on the red panda’s fragile habitat. Any person found guilty of killing, buying or selling red pandas faces a fine of up to $1 ,OHO and/ r up to ten years in jail.
Other community initiatives to stop the hunting and capture of red pandas for income include: Making yak dung briquettes. These provide an alternative way to generate income and can be used for fuel instead of cutting down red panda habitat for wood. Creating tourism packages. Attracting tourists provides an alternative method for generating Income. Monitoring Red Pandas: WFM monitors red pandas and their habitat across India, Nepal and Bhutan to better understand the species. In 2011 , ‘their work helped the government in the Indian state of Skim declare that the Tate held an estimated 300 red pandas.
WFM also examines the feasibility of reintroducing red pandas to create populations in identified sites within Skim” (“Red Panda”). Research Paper Notes on Red Panda Page 4 Author: not available Title of Section: Mammals Red Panda Overall Title of Website/Database: Red Panda San Diego Zoo Animals Data of Publication: not available Date of visit to website: 3/2/1 5 URL: http:// animals. Sandiness’s. Org/animals/red-panda Behavior: Don’t look for any red panda activity during the day: they usually move around at dawn and dusk, sleeping during the hottest part of the day.
They begin their “day’ by licking the front paws and then cleaning the fur all over the body in a cat-like, sitting posture in the tree. Red pandas “wash” their face with fore and hind paws (“Red Panda”). You might see one at the Zoo stretched out on a tree branch or even rolled up in a tree hollow with its long tail covering the face. When night falls, red pandas run quickly through the trees to forage for food. Males patrol their territory and scent mark it with urine as well as a secretion from the anal gland during this time. Breeding Season: Breeding season takes place from January through April.
During this time, red pandas come together in small groups, and cubs or adults may engage in social play that includes lunging, wrestling, and biting. Cub Life: Like the giant panda, the red panda female is fertile for only one or two days a year, and there is a period Of delayed implantation when the fertilized egg doesn’t implant or develop right away, possibly to ensure that cubs are born in the summer when their chances for survival are best. Just a few days before giving birth, the expectant mother begins to build a birthing den in a hollow tree, stump, or rock crevice, lining it with twigs, leaves, grass, zoos, and small branches.
The young are born with thick buff and gray fur and with their eyes and ears tightly closed, so the protection of the den is very important. Mom keeps her cubs hidden in the den, and for their first 7 to 10 days, the cubs’ only activity is nursing. Hungry cubs get Mom’s attention with high-pitched whistles. They usually begin opening their eyes and ears at 2 to 3 weeks of age and nurse until 13 to 22 weeks old. Their wooly, gray hair changes to red at this time. The red panda mother shelters her young in tree hollows and regularly moves them to new dens, carrying her offspring in her out.
By the time cubs are 40 to 50 days old, they are actively exploring the den, grooming, and playing. They begin chewing on bamboo twigs their mother brings to the den, although they won’t regularly eat solid food until they are four months old. Cubs venture from the den when about three months old. By five months of age they are almost as large as their mother. They mature in 1 8 to 20 months and are driven away by their mother at that time so she can get ready to raise her next litter. Males rarely help with raising the young.
