Red panda

Description

The red panda (Ailurus fulgens), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur, 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 (7.1 and 33.1 lb). It is well adapted to climbing due to its flexible joints and curved semi-retractile claws. The red panda has a head-body length of 51–63.5 cm (20.1–25.0 in) with a 28–48.5 cm (11.0–19.1 in) tail. The Himalayan red panda is recorded to weigh 3.2–9.4 kg (7.1–20.7 lb), while the Chinese red panda weighs 4–15 kg (8.8–33.1 lb) for females and 4.2–13.4 kg (9.3–29.5 lb) for males. The panda has a relatively small head with a reduced snout and triangular ears, though proportionally larger than in similarly sized raccoons, while the limbs are nearly equal in length. The red panda has five curved digits on each foot, which end in curved semi-retractile claws that aid in climbing. The pelvis and hindlimbs have flexible joints, adaptations for an arboreal quadrupedal lifestyle. While not prehensile, the tail acts as support and counterbalance when climbing. The red panda's coat is mainly red or orange-brown with a black belly and legs. The face is mostly white and has red marks that stretch from the side angle of the eyes to the corners of the mouth. The inside of the ears are covered in white fur with a red patch in the centre. Its bushy tail has alternating rings of red and buff. The colouration appears to serve as camouflage in a habitat with red moss- and white lichen-covered trees. The fur consists of coarse guard hairs with a soft dense, woolly undercoat. The guard hairs on the back have a circular cross-section and are 47–56 mm (1.9–2.2 in) long. It has moderately long whiskers around the mouth, lower jaw and chin. The red panda is distributed from western Nepal, Sikkim, West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh in India, Bhutan and southern Tibet to northern Myanmar, the Hengduan Mountains and Gongshan Mountains in China's Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. The global potential habitat of the red panda has been estimated to comprise 47,100 km2 (18,200 sq mi) at most; this habitat is located in the temperate climate zone of the Himalayas with a mean annual temperature range of 18–24 °C (64–75 °F). Throughout this range, it has been recorded at elevations of 2,000–4,300 m (6,600–14,100 ft).