Red panda
There is no other animal like the red panda. Because of its brightly coloured fur, people from its habitat also call it the "fire fox". Unfortunately, the red panda is endangered, in part by deforestation. As coordinator of the global population management program, Rotterdam Zoo is committed to protecting the red panda, both in zoos and in the wild.
14 years
25 centimeters
50 - 64 centimeters
3 - 5 kilograms
The red panda is a small tree dweller. With its characteristic red fur and black belly, it is almost unnoticeable in the trees where it lives. Even though its name suggests it, the red panda is not a direct relative of the giant panda. Although they both belong to the order Carnivora, they have no recent common ancestor. Their similarity is mainly in diet; both species mostly eat bamboo.
...The red panda is slightly larger than a raccoon and is also called a cat bear?
...The red panda can sleep up to 17 hours a day?
The red panda is found in the Himalayan region, which includes China, Myanmar, Tibet, India, Bhutan, and Nepal. It inhabits mountain forests with an ample supply of bamboo for food, typically up to an altitude of about 5 kilometers. Unfortunately, due to extensive deforestation for agriculture and urban development, the panda's habitat is gradually shrinking.
The red panda is completely adapted to life in bamboo forests. For example, they have special rough soles to "stick" themselves to the trees and climb. In addition, they have a sixth finger, a protrusion of the wrist which helps them grasp bamboo stalks. Furthermore, their tongue has special ridges to prevent leaves from sliding out of their mouths before they can gnaw them off the branches.
Rotterdam Zoo coordinates the global population management program for the red panda. Based on the family tree of pandas now living in zoos, new pairs are formed that are allowed to have cubs. These young are in turn moved to other zoos, forming the next generation for the family tree. Red pandas are relatively easy to pair up: they mate in the spring and the young are ready to go to their new home the following year in the fall, where they can form another new pair. Even though pandas live on their own in the wild. Zoos do allow family groups of males or females to live together.
Rotterdam Zoo is working together with Red Panda Network, which is buying up pieces of land in Nepal and India and converting them into nature reserves. They also involve the local population to help protect their own indigenous nature. Rotterdam Zoo also conducts research on the red panda. A great example is testing GPS collars to gain more insight into the behaviour and distribution of the red panda in the wild. The collars were first tested at Rotterdam Zoo with the pandas to see if this method works for research. Then the collars were transported to Nepal, to conduct research on wild red pandas. In this way, Rotterdam Zoo is helping the panda at home and abroad.
At Rotterdam Zoo, you'll find the red pandas in the Himalayan area, where there are two enclosures. They have plenty of trees to climb, hide, and sleep in. Besides bamboo, the pandas are also given grapes for an extra vitamin boost.
