The red panda, the only survivor of its family, is a symbol of the Himalayas, its main area of distribution. Although the giant panda and the red panda share names, they are not closely related. The red panda plays a crucial role in conserving the forests of the eastern Himalayas and represents the protection and maintenance of the region where it lives.
The red panda is a small mammal, about the size of a domestic cat, with reddish-brown fur and distinctive features such as white ears and a long, bushy tail. Its distribution spans from northern Myanmar to western China’s Sichuan and Yunnan provinces and is also found in Nepal, India, and Tibet. The eastern Himalayas occupy almost 50% of their territory.
Although descended from carnivorous ancestors, the red panda feeds primarily on bamboo, which makes up 98% of its diet. It completes its diet with insects, flowers, eggs, small mammals, and birds. It is a solitary animal with crepuscular habits, sleeping most of the day and feeding at dawn and dusk.
The red panda breeds between January and February, with a gestation period of 4 to 5 months. This species is in danger of extinction, with an estimated population of less than 10,000 individuals due to deforestation and human expansion in Southeast Asia, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).