The red panda shares the giant panda's rainy, high-altitude forest habitat, but has a wider range. Red pandas live in the mountains of Nepal and northern Myanmar (Burma), as well as in central China.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.
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.
Conservation
Red pandas are endangered, victims of deforestation. Their natural space is shrinking as more and more forests are destroyed by logging and the spread of agriculture .
Accurate population figures in the wild are difficult to find, partly because they are determined by population density estimates and not direct counts. Worldwide population estimates range from less than 2,500 individuals to between 16,000 and 20,000 individuals. The IUCN Red List (2010.01) estimates the total population in China to be between 3,000 and 7,000 and the population in India to be between 5,000 and 6,000 in the wild (total 8,000 to 13,000), with wild populations still declining. However, these numbers are from surveys done in 2001 and earlier. Estimates for Nepal indicate only a few hundred individuals. There are no records from Bhutan or Myanmar.
The Red Panda is protected in all countries where it lives, and hunting it is illegal. Beyond this, conservation efforts are highly variable between countries:
Know more about Red Pandas and see what we can do for them at
http://redpandanetwork.org/
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