Characteristics
The red panda has a soft and dense coat, characterized by thick underfur. Their face is light with dark markings, and rusty red stripes beneath each eye, similar to the markings of a raccoon. They have large, upright ears with a white spot on the inside. Red pandas have a long, bushy, reddish-brown tail with pale, reddish rings, which they use to cover their face and keep their noses warm in cold weather.
Behavior
Red pandas are crepuscular, meaning they are most active at dawn and dusk. Most of the day is spent resting and sleeping in trees. Territories are marked with substances from their footpads, and males fiercely defend their territory. Red pandas are agile climbers, and they use their long tail for support and counterbalance as they tend to sleep with their legs straddling a branch or tightly curled up with their head under a hind leg. They eat sitting, standing, or (only a few other animals can do this) lying on their back.
Did You Know?
- A bone on the inner side of their wrist acts as a “false thumb,” and helps them handle bamboo leaves and poles.
- Classified as a carnivore, it does not get much nutrition from vegetation, requiring a significant portion of the day to be spent feeding.
- Red pandas eat sitting, standing, or (only a few other animals can do this) lying on their back.
Our Animals
We have two red pandas at Potter Park Zoo. Maliha was born at Fort Worth Children’s Zoo in 2014. In 2016, Maliha gave birth to a male and female cub who now live at Capron Zoo in Massachusetts. Our male, Deagan-Reid, was born at the John Ball Zoo in 2011 and arrived from Zoo Knoxville earlier in 2021.
