Red panda

Red panda

The red panda or panda-small, also known as fox-of-fire or cat-of-fire (scientific name: Ailurus fulgens, ailurus Greek, cat, and fulgens Latin, bright), is a small mammal arboreal and the only species of the genus Ailurus. It belongs to Ailuridae family, but has been classified in Procyonidae families (raccoons) and Ursidae (bears).

The red panda is native to the mountainous regions of the Himalayas and southern China, and is associated with the temperate forests of altitude and bamboo groves. It has a reddish-brown coloration characteristic, tail long and shaggy and waddling gait due to the shortening of the forelimbs. It is a solitary animal, territorialist and crepuscular and nocturnal. Their food consists mainly of bamboo; however, being omnivorous, you can eat eggs, birds, insects and small mammals.

It is in danger of extinction due to habitat destruction by human expansion, agriculture, livestock and the extraction of natural resources. Poaching is also another important factor contributing to the decrease of the population of pandas. It is a common animal in zoos, mainly from North America and Europe, playing well in captivity.



It is not a bear, not related to the giant panda, it is not a raccoon, and not a line of uncertain affinities. Instead, it is a basal lineage musteloidea with a long history of independence from their close relatives (Mephitidae, Procyonidae and Mustelidae). This long separation from others musteloideos can prove recognition of the lineage of the red panda as a high distinct level taxonomic entity (ie Ailuridae), although increased Ailuridae taxon can not be alone, instructive of his need phylogenetic position to other musteloideos and arctoideos.