Red panda

If not live, then in the picture you just saw a white bear with black spots, which is called a panda. He lives on trees, eats bamboo and is a popular cartoon character and image for producers of plush toys. Have you heard anything about such an animal as a red panda? Certainly not.

Red or small panda for its spectacular red color and small size of the Chinese nicknamed a fiery fox. In English, it sounds like "firefox", which many Internet users can immediately recall about the same browser.

In general, it is worth noting that the red panda with its appearance resembles several animals at once. It was this that in its time gave rise to confusion among zoologists. Scientists argued for a long time, because they could not decide which family to include this animal - either to the raccoon, or to the kunim, or to the bearish one. It was even suggested that a small family should be identified for a small panda. So, in principle, and did after having conducted a number of genetic studies.

Today, this cute animal belongs to the family of the Little Pandas, which, together with the skunk, raccoon and kuni, forms the superfamily Kunice-like.

Today, red pandas are quite rare in nature - they live only in two Chinese provinces (Sichuan and Yunnan), as well as in Burma, Bhutan, Nepal and northeast India. But the habitat of their ancestors was much wider - the remains of these animals today are found on the territory of both North America and Eastern Europe. Obviously, sharp changes in climatic conditions in due time served as a significant narrowing of the areas of habitat of small pandas. They prefer animals to a moderate climatic zone, where they live in bamboo forests located in the mountains at an altitude of 2-4 meters above sea level.

Typically, a small red panda prefers to exist alone, but several cases confirm that this animal can live in pairs or in a small group. Pregnancy of the female red panda lasts about 134 days, and the offspring she displays in June or July in a hollow tree, the height of which must certainly be at least three meters. This is a necessary measure of protection against predation attacks. At a time, a red panda can bring from one to four young, the weight of each of them varies from 110 to 140 g. Until the age of 4 months, babies feed on mother's milk, and after the first year of life leave their native homes to begin an independent life.

The small pandas are most active during the night, preferring to sleep in a snugly equipped hollow during the day. Noteworthy is the fact that this animal is classified as a predator, although its diet of 99% consists of food of vegetable origin. Just like an ordinary panda, this fiery fox is mostly enjoying shoots and young leaves of bamboo. Sometimes she can afford to vary her meals with berries, various fruits and mushrooms. And only 1% of the ration of the animal consists of eggs of birds and small rodents.

The red panda feeds itself mainly on the surface of the earth, although it does not feel very confident here, because it moves awkwardly and slowly. But on the trees the animal climbs just superbly - only because of this it is saved from the danger in the face of larger predators.

Being in a quiet state, the animal produces short sounds that can be compared to the twittering of birds.

Small panda today is listed in the Red Book, as its habitat slowly but surely collapses, which leads to a reduction in the number of representatives of this family. Fortunately, the little animal possesses a peace-loving character and perfectly coexists and multiplies in conditions of captivity. So, for today about 300 individuals of the red panda live in 85 zoos all over the world, and about the same number of animals in the last two decades they were born.