NL·0246Herbarium of the Nature Library
- Name
- Ailurus fulgens
- Family
- Ailuridae
- Native to
- Nepal, Bhutan, northeast India, Myanmar and southwest China
- Habitat
- Temperate montane forest, Bamboo forest
Red panda
Ailurus fulgens
Also calledNigalya ponya (Nepali) · Wha (Nepali) · Huǒhú 火狐, 'fire fox' (Chinese) · Xiǎo xióngmāo 小熊猫 (Mandarin)
A russet, ring-tailed tree-dweller of the eastern Himalaya, the only living member of its family and not a close relative of the giant panda. It was called 'panda' first, decades before the giant panda was known to Western science.
The red panda, also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle and a ringed tail. Its head-to-body length is 51–63.5 cm (20.1–25.0 in) with a 28–48.5 cm (11.0–19.1 in) tail, and it weighs between 3.2 and 15 kg. It is well adapted to climbing due to its flexible joints and curved semi-retractile claws. Wikipedia
What it can do
- iHas a false thumb (an extended wrist bone) for gripping bamboo, evolved separately from the giant panda's
- iiClimbs down trees head-first by rotating its ankles
- iiiLowers its metabolic rate and curls its thick tail around itself to save energy in the cold
- ivDetects sweetness with taste receptors for artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, unusual among mammals
In the field
Field marks
- aCat-sized with rusty-red fur
- bWhite face markings and tear-like stripes
- cLong, bushy, ringed tail
- dBlack legs and belly
- Voice
- Twittering whistles and huff-quacks
- Not to be confused with
- Unmistakable in its range.
- Where to see it
- Singalila National Park, Darjeeling (India)
- When
- Resident; easiest about Mar–May and Oct–Dec
Listen
Looking for field recordings…
Life & habits
- Diet
- Mostly bamboo leaves and shoots; also fruit, acorns, eggs and insects
- Habitat
- Temperate forest with bamboo understorey, 2,200–4,800 m
- Size
- 3–6 kg; body 50–64 cm with a tail of 28–59 cm
- Lifespan
- 8–10 years wild; up to ~15 in captivity
Mostly solitary and active at dawn, dusk and night, it sleeps stretched along branches by day.
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Native range
Nepal, Bhutan, northeast India, Myanmar and southwest China
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Ailurus fulgens in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
Marginalia
Frédéric Cuvier named it Ailurus fulgens, 'shining cat', in 1825. The word 'panda' probably comes from a Nepali name for the animal.
Curiosity
The Firefox web browser is named after it, from a Chinese name meaning 'fire fox'.
Kinship
Photographs: iNaturalist contributors under the licences shown. Records: GBIF.org. Historical plates: Source Library (CC BY-SA 4.0; originals public domain). Summary text: Nature Library editors and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Medicinal and edibility notes are historical and educational, not advice. iNaturalist taxon 41653.