VANISHING SPECIES II: Vanishing Species

An article by Mohan Pai

The Red Panda

or Cat-Bear

(Ailurus fulgens)

The Red Panda is a “Teddy Bear” come to life.

The hills of Darjeeling are famous for a cute, cuddly and endearing animal-the Red Panda or Cat Bear. A small furry animal, the red Panda is almost as big as a reasonably sized domestic cat. It is chestnut red in colour, with its leg and underparts of a darker, almost blackish hue and has small white patches on the eyebrows and cheeks. Its pointed, cat-like ears and ringed markings on the tail give it a catlike appearance, the flat feet and bear-like paws have given it a bear like gait, and hence the epithet of cat-bear. However, it is neither a cat nor a bear.

The red panda has given scientists taxonomic fits. It has been classified as a relative of the giant panda, and also of the raccoon, with which it shares a ringed tail. Currently, red pandas are considered members of their own unique family—the Ailuridae.

The fur of red pandas is used to make hats and clothing by local people in China. The fur hat with its long, luxurious tail at the back looks beautiful and warm. In Yunnan Province, this type of hat is still desired by newlyweds, because it was regarded as a talisman for a happy marriage in the past.

Habitat and Distribution

Red Panda, live in temperate climates, in deciduous and coniferous forests, usually with an understorey of bamboo and hollow trees. This makes them a key species of these forests and indicators of forest health. They are found in the Himalayan region, in parts of Nepal, Bhutan, Mynammar and in the Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. Most of the red pandas of the world occur in China, whereas the majority of the Indian population occur in Arunachal Pradesh.

Unique Characteristics

The adorably cute red panda, also known as cat bear and lesser panda, is largely herbivore and an endangered species. Slightly larger than a domestic cat though their big, bushy tails add another 18 inches. They use their ringed tails as wraparound blankets in the chilly mountain heights. An adult red panda in the forest weighs around 4 kg. The lesser panda has retractile claws and, like the Giant Panda, it has a “false thumb” which is really an extension of the wrist bone. Thick fur on the soles offer protection from cold. The pelage is reddish – orange on the body with a long bushy tail. Their ears and areas around the eyes are white with black “tear drops” running from the eyes to the throat. These intricate white markings on the face of a red panda makes it most conspicuous.

Diet:

The red pandas almost exclusively eats bamboo (mostly leaves, supplemented in the spring with bamboo shoots). It sometimes supplements its diet during the summer with fruit. It has also been reported occasionally to eat a wide variety of other items including berries, blossoms, fungi, seeds, acorns, eggs, young birds, small rodents, and insects.

These animals spend most of their lives in trees and even sleep aloft. When foraging, they are most active at night as well as in the gloaming hours of dusk and dawn.
They are shy and solitary except when mating. Females give birth in the spring and summer, typically to one to four young. Young red pandas remain in their nests for about 90 days, during which time their mother cares for them. (Males take little or no interest in their offspring.)

Conservation Challenges

Red pandas are declining over much of their range due to habitat loss and fragmentation. Forests are being cleared for timber extraction, agricultural development and livestock grazing even within national parks and wildlife reserves. This has resulted in the loss of nesting trees and the bamboo understorey on which the species feed. The red panda is also hunted for its pelt, which is used to make traditional hats and clothing in China. Moreover, they are also caught in the wild and kept as pets in certain parts of India and Nepal.