I know that there are many species of pandas but never heard of a red panda until i went looking for an animal that starts with the letter R Here are some facts about these cute little creatures.
The red pandas typically grow to the size of a house cat, though their big, bushy tails add an additional 18 inches (46 centimeters). These pandas use their ringed tails as wraparound blankets in the chilly mountain heights where they live. The red panda shares the giant panda's rainy, high-altitude forest habitat, but has a wider range. Red pandas live in the mountains of Nepal and northern Myanmar ( Burma ), as well as in central China . They have a taste for bamboo but, unlike their larger relatives, they eat many other foods as well—fruit, acorns, roots, and eggs. Like giant pandas, they have an extended wrist bone that substitutes a thumb and greatly helps their grip. Red Panda’s have been classified as a relative of the giant panda, and also of the raccoon, with which it shares a ringed tail. Currently, they are considered members of their own unique family—the Ailuridae. Red pandas are endangered, victims of deforestation. Their natural space is shrinking as more and more forests are destroyed by logging and the spread of agriculture. Worse than that, their life span is only a short time of eight years. The red pandas are dying quickly so some zoos are helping by taking care of a few until their number multiplies.
I have not seen a red panda in any of the zoo I've visited so far. I would love to get my hands on one of these pandas and maybe cuddle up with it! Aren't they so cuuutttteee???