Red Panda - Adorable but endangered animals.

RED PANDA

     Red panda (Ailurus fulgens), Also called the lesser panda, red bear-cat, and red cat-bear, is native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has found by Fulgens Cuvier in 1825.

Ailurus fulgens

Science classification                                                                          

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Phylum: Chordata
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Carnivora
• Suborder: Caniformia
• Family: Ailuridae
• Genus: Ailurus
• Species: Ailurus fulgens

Physical creatures                                                                               

     

     

Red panda has long, soft, reddish-brown fur on the upper parts, blackish fur on the lower parts, and a light face with tear markings (that similar to raccoon) and robust cranial dental features. It also has upright ears, black noses, and blackish eyes. Red panda has a long and bushy tails with six rings transverse rings provide balance and for camouflage. They has four black and short legs that covered with thick fur. Rend panda's fur serves as thermal insulation.

     Red panda has strong, curved, sharp semi-retractile claws for gasping their foods. red panda also has a 'false thumb' just like the ordinary giant panda, which is an extension of the wrist bone. Red panda descends a tree head-first by control its ankle to rotate its descent, and that's a rare abilities that just a few climbing species could do that.

      

Habitat                                                                                                

     Red panda has been classified as Endangered animals by the IUCN because the population only have 10.000 mature individuals all over the world, the main reason is because red panda's lifespan is just between eight until ten years averagely and breed not so often. Red panda is endangered because they lost their home due to fragmentation and illegal logging. Actually, Red panda is endemic to the temperate forest of the Himalayas, from western Nepal to Eastern China. 
    Red panda lives between 2,200 and 4,800 m altitude, with moderate temperature between 10 until 25 degrees , they cannot tolerate temperatures over 25 degrees. They usually lives in the mountain or in the forest that has old trees and bamboo.

Diet                                                                                                     

    

     Red panda is professional at climbing trees. They mostly eat bamboo, but there's also who eat small mammals, birds, eggs. flowers, and also fruit (especially berries). Just like the giant panda, they cannot digest cellulose, so they must eat a lot of bamboo to survive, about two to three bamboo per day.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_panda

- www.fauna-flora.org/facts/red-panda

- https://a-z-animals.com

- www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/r/red-panda

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By. Alicia Elena Jasmine

10 October 2017