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A red panda with reddish fur resting on a mossy branch.
Photo: Sunuwargr, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Red Panda

Ailurus fulgens

A red, bushy-tailed tree climber of Himalayan and Chinese mountain forests that eats bamboo but is not related to the giant panda.

🦊 Red Pandas
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About the Red Panda

Red pandas live in cool mountain forests with bamboo growing underneath, in Nepal, Bhutan, India and China. They are about 22 to 25 inches long, plus a furry 15 to 19 inch tail. A thick, woolly undercoat keeps them warm. Like giant pandas, they have a "false thumb," an enlarged wrist bone that helps them hold bamboo.[1]

Quick facts

Scientific name
Ailurus fulgens[1]
Size
About 22 to 25 inches long, plus a 15 to 19 inch tail.[1]
Lifespan
About 8 to 10 years in the wild. Into their late teens in zoos.[1]
Diet
Omnivore. Mostly bamboo and fruit.[1]
Habitat
Temperate mountain forests with a bamboo understory.[1]
Where it lives
Nepal, Bhutan and parts of India (Himalayan red panda) and China.[1]
Babies
Pregnancy averages 134 days. Young open their eyes at about 18 days.[1]
Conservation status
Endangered (IUCN Red List, assessed 2015).[2]

Fun facts

  • Red pandas aren't related to giant pandas. They are in a family of their own.[1]
  • A red panda's "false thumb" is really an enlarged wrist bone.[1]
  • Young red pandas reach adult size by about 12 months old.[1]

Vocabulary

understory
The layer of plants growing beneath the tall trees of a forest.
undercoat
Short, soft fur under the longer outer hairs that keeps an animal warm.
temperate
Having mild weather with warm summers and cool winters.
family
In science, a group of closely related genera of living things.
endangered
A conservation label meaning a species faces a very high risk of dying out in the wild.

See it in person

Sources

  1. [1] Zoo Atlanta. “Red Panda.” https://zooatlanta.org/animal/red-panda/ (accessed 2026-10-02)
  2. [2] IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. “Ailurus fulgens (Red Panda).” https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/714/110023718 (accessed 2026-10-02)

Facts last checked 2026-10-02.