21 September: Red Panda Day

The third Saturday in September is International Red Panda Day. Here are ten things you might not know about red pandas.

1. They're not actually pandas, nor are they even closely related to them. Scientists have only recently decided that they're actually closer relatives of Raccoons and skunks than pandas.
2. So why call it a panda when it's not a panda? It possibly comes from a Nepali word, ponya, which means bamboo or plant eating animal. The scientific name for red pandas is Ailurus fulgens, which means fire-coloured cat. It's possible that the giant panda even got its name because of similarities to the red panda. They go by other names, too. When Europeans first found them, they called them parti-coloured bears, and one naturalist propsed to call the animal the wha. One alternative name for them is firefox - and Mozilla named their browser after them. They'd wanted to call it Firebird but another company was already using that.
3. They are similar to pandas, however, in their diet. They mainly eat Bamboo leaves, and sometimes fruit and flowers. So despite belonging to the Order Carnivora, they are mostly vegetarian, although they have been known on rare occasions to eat eggs, insects or small birds and mammals. They spend 13 hours a day eating.
4. They are native to the temperate forests of the Himalayas and range in the wild as far as Tibet, Bhutan, Myanmar and parts of China and India.
5. They seem to be good at escaping from zoos, to the extent that the Association of Zoos and Aquariums states in its official manual "beware: red pandas are escape artists." One escapee, Rusty, got out of his enclosure at the Smithsonian National Zoo when heavy rain pushed a tree branch over the electric fence. His escape caused a storm on Twitter (#findrusty) and he was eventually found safe and well and returned to the zoo. Another, Babu, escaped from a zoo in Birmingham in 2005 and as a result of the media coverage his escape got, he became the first animal to be named "Brummie of the Year". Not all red pandas have been so lucky. Another, which escaped from a Rotterdam zoo in 1978, was found dead. However, even after the unfortunate creature was found, people kept calling in to say they'd seen it. This led to scientists calling the phenomena in which people see something they expect to see, even though it's highly unlikely, the Red Panda Effect.
6. A red panda is about the size of a domestic Cat, with large, round heads and pointed ears. They have long, bushy, ringed tails. They also have a wrist bone which acts like a thumb to help them climb trees and grasp their food. Giant pandas also have this feature.
7. They are solitary and territorial, and mark their territory with a strong odour produced by a scent gland under their tail. Like their relatives the skunks, they can also produce the scent when attacked by a predator.
8. The sound they make is described as twittering, tweeting and whistling.
9. They are crepuscular, which means they are most active at dawn and dusk. They mostly sleep during the day, ideally in a sunny spot. If it's chilly, they'll sleep wrapped in their fluffy tails.
10. The red panda is the state animal of Sikkim and the mascot of the Darjeeling Tea Festival. The most famous fictional red panda is probably Master Shifu in the Kung Fu Panda movies.

See also: Pandas

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