Red Panda

When they think Panda, most people think large, furry, black, and white. Adorable as Giant Pandas are, though, there are other pandas that are equally awesome, and unfortunately endangered.

Distantly related to the larger, better-known black-and-white giant panda, the red panda is a solitary creature found in the mountains of Nepal, Myanmar, and central China. Photograph by Mark W. Moffett

Meanwhile, these guys just made their public debut the other day, after a harrowing summer of fighting through infancy. On the cuteness meter, there is no disappointing.

The Assiniboine Park Zoo gave the media a glimpse of two infant Red Pandas that were born in the facility in mid-June. Zookeeper Janice Martin holds one of the cubs on Thursday, September 2, 2010. (Winnipeg Sun)

According to National Geographic’s article, “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.
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.”
The National Zoo in Washington and the Brooklyn Zoo in New York both have Red Pandas–and there are apparently 800 or so of these lovely creatures in zoos worldwide. Hope you can get to see one!

Cheers,
-r-