Red Panda

Scientific Name

Ailurus fulgens

Other Common Name(s)

Lesser Panda, Firefox

Body Length

Head and body: 56-63 cm
Tail: 37-47 cm

Body Weight

4-6 kg

Distribution

Bamboo forests throughout the Himalayas, including China, Nepal and India

Fun Facts

Besides bamboo, red pandas also eat acorns, roots, berries, lichens, and occasionally eggs and young birds.

Red pandas have an extra thumb formed by an extension of their wrist bone. This sixth digit helps grasp bamboo stems. Giant pandas also have a similar “thumb”.

Threats & Conservation

IUCN Red List: Endangered

CITES: Appendix I

Chinese Wildlife Conservation Law: Category 2

Red pandas are losing their homes to humans, and struggling in highly fragmented habitats. People cut down the forests to make way for housing, farming and infrastructure. They collect bamboo and firewood for other uses. They bring in livestock, which grazes and tramples the bamboo, and dogs that attack red pandas and spread deadly diseases. Another threat is poachers, who catch red pandas for the pet trade, or for their skin and meat. It is estimated that the population of red pandas may have dropped by half in roughly the past 20 years.

Wisely use resources from forests; choose products with Forest Stewardship Council^® (FSC^TM) certification.