The Red Panda, also called the Lesser Panda, Cat Bear or Fire Cat, is found in the bamboo forests of the Himalayan Mountain of Tibet, Nepal and western China. Besides bamboo, they also eat other grasses, roots, fruit, insects, mice, small rodents and birds. They drink by suction.
They have long, thick reddest brown fur and their pointed ears, cheeks and chin are trimmed in white. Their long, bushy tail has cream colored rings around it. It has stout limbs, flat woolly feet and long sharp claws that retract like a cats and an extra thumb to help grasp the bamboo. They weight 9 to 13 pounds(4 to 6 kilograms) and is about the size of a large house cat. It also hisses and spits like a cat and growls like a bear.
Red Pandas are solitary animals who only come together to mate. The mother has 1 or 2 cubs in the spring. The young stay with her for about a year.
The Giant Panda lives in the bamboo forests of Western, Central and Southern China. They usually live in dens.
The Giant Panda is a chubby white bear with black bands around its arms and shoulders, black legs, a black patch around its eyes, round black ears and a short white tail.
It has an extra thumb to help it grasp the bamboo. They can weight up to 350 pounds(160 kilograms). They are slow moving on the ground but good tree climbers. They have poor eyesight but their hearing and smell is excellent.
The Giant Panda eats mostly bamboo leaves ans shoots and sometimes bamboo rats. They spend up to 16 hours a day eating and can consume from 15 to 55 kilograms per day.
Giant Panda's are solitaire creatures mostly only coming together to mate. They communicate with bleats, chirps, honks, moans and groans. About 5 months after mating, the lone mother gives birth to 1 or 2 young. The babies are about 16 centimeters long and weight about 4 ounces. They are pink with thin white fuzzy hair and no black markings. The mother is very loving and caring with the baby, cradling the tiny cub in her arms almost continuously til it is strong enough to walk.
Giant Panda's never hurry to go anywhere unless they are being chased. Their only enemies are large cats, grizzlies and man. They love to play in the snow and the babies can do somersaults and stand on their heads.
Pandas are such adorable animals loved the world over and as a result have become the symbol of the World Wildlife Fund's efforts to save life on earth. But pandas are slowly disappearing, and could soon be extinct. There are less then 1000 left in the wild. Their main enemy is man who has destroyed much of their home and food supply. It is vital we protect what is left or future children will never be able to see them!
Back