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Lesser, or red panda - AELURUS FULGENS
Possibly Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Panda": "Panda" is possibly a Nepalese word for "food," but this animal is closely related to the raccoon, and not closely related to the Giant Panda.
Location: Southern China and Nepal.
Habitat: Terrestrial. Forests, especially of bamboo.
Description: The coat is long and soft. Unlike most animals, it is darker underneath, its underside is black while the head is white and the back rust-brown. The tail is rust-brown with black and paler rings. The head is unusually large and the snout is pointed. The legs are short and bearlike, and the feet have sharp and semiretractile claws. The head and body is 20 to 25 inches long, with the tail about the same. They weigh six to ten pounds.
Behavior: The red panda typically lives alone or in pairs. Because of its sharp claws, it can climb rapidly through trees, where it rests with its legs dangling in mid-air and its belly lying flat on top of a branch. It is mostly active from dusk to dawn. It feeds on bamboo shoots, succulent plants, roots, and sometimes on eggs and small vertebrates. It frequently washes itself with its tongue like a cat, licking the sole of the foot and then using the moistened sole to clean the fur. When it drinks it may plunge its paw into the water and then lick the paw.
Reproduction: In the spring, after a gestation period of about four months, one to four young are born. They nurse for a few months and are completely self-sufficient after several months, but may remain with their mother for more than a year.
Go to the Carnivore Page to learn more about all the meat-eating animals.
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