- Like red pandas use their tails as blankets, how cute is that!
To start off the red panda fun facts, you should know they are fantastic climbers and they love the snow.
- They aren’t close relatives with Giant Pandas.
- They are more closely related with raccoons and weasels than they are with Giant Pandas.
- Red Pandas were the original pandas, not the white and black giant panda that everyone thinks of. Panda comes from ‘ponya’ meaning bamboo or plant eating animal.
- Red pandas are considered carnivores but they mainly eat bamboo. Did you know this as one of the red panda fun facts?
- Red pandas eat about ? of their body weight in bamboo every day.
- There are over 20 species of bamboo that red pandas eat.
- Red pandas like to eat the tender, young leaves and shoots on the bamboo plant.
- They use their tails as blankets. Awwww.
- Red pandas have tails that are patterned in a way that helps them stay camouflaged in the wild.
- Their reddish brown fur helps red pandas to blend so well in the moss and trees.
- Red pandas prefer the solo life who only come out for mating season.
- The animals are known for their “false red thumb” which was really an extended wrist bone that acted as a thumb. They need this to help them grasp the bamboo shoots they eat for about ? of their diet.
- Pandas are not only solitary animals but they tend to be night owls.
- They are crepuscular meaning they are most active at dawn and dusk.
- They like to sleep amongst the trees during the day to hide from predators.
- There are two distinct species of red pandas.
- The Chinese red panda (Ailurus fulgens styani) and the Himalayan red panda (Ailurus fulgens fulgens) are the two distinct species, showing significant differences in their DNA, appearance, and habitat regions, from northern Myanmar to northeastern India,
- There’s a festival celebrating red pandas in Nepal, to raise awareness and protect the animals.
- Red pandas easily adapt to snowy climates because of their thick, red fur.
- Red pandas love to play in the snow!
- Their whiskers are very sensitive and help them “see” in the dark! (Or during twilight.)
- Red pandas basically have night-vision googles because of the way their whiskers help them “see.” This is one of the best red panda fun facts.
- Red pandas can climb treetops and remain completely still, hiding in the branches from predators.
- You can hear red pandas communicated with each other through tweets and whistles.
- Red pandas use the sounds they make to warn other red pandas of danger or even just to greet them.
- Red pandas use their tail as a blanket and an air-conditioner.
- Red pandas use their tail to curl it up over their faces in the summer to stay cool.
- Not all red pandas are red and while some have reddish-brown fur others are a lot darker and even more different, some have cream-colored fur.
- Baby pandas are called cubs.
- Female red pandas usually give birth to one or two cubs, with a gestation period of 112-158 days, with an average of 135.
- When they’re born, red pandas can’t see and are otherwise completely helpless.
- It takes three weeks for a baby panda to open their eyes and before they begin to explore the outside world.
- In the wild, red pandas can live up to 14 years.
- In captivity like the zoo, with healthcare and regular food sources, they can live longer than 14 years.
- They can climb head first down the trees.
- Red pandas turn their ankles 180 degrees to help them climb head first down the trees.
- They can almost fly, leaping up to 4 feet apart in the trees.
- Red pandas eat a lot of bamboo but also fruits, acorns, roots and eggs.
Did you know all these red panda fun facts? Let me know your favorites in the comments!