The Red Pand Ailurus Fulgens

The Red Panda, also known as the Ailurus Fulgens, is a primary consumer or herbivore found in China and some mountainous areas such as Hengduan and the Nepal mountains. This species is located in the Temperate Rainforest biome, a fairly unheard of biome. The Red Panda is an animal classified into the Animalia kingdom, Chordata phylum, Mammalia class, Carnivora class, Ailuridae family, and Ailurus Genus.
The Red Panda has orange like red tone fur, white stripes on its tail, white, fluffy ears, with a nearly black under body. They have five toes and they also have semi retractable claws to climb trees. They leave scents with their scent-leaving glands on the bottom part of their feet or paws; when leaving territorial marks, they use
a scent gland at the base of their tale, similar to a skunk. When attacked by a possible predator, or scared, they excrete the strong scent at their foes, if possible, making an escape from the scene. If this doesn’t work, they usually just go back to clawing and scratching the opponent. They tend to test the odor they have left behind by using the bottom of their tongues to check. This scent is unnoticeable by humans due to the fact that the human nose is not as complex as most other animals, so it’s something impossible to smell.
Red Pandas tend to reproduce during the months of January through March in the northern hemisphere.
While in the southern hemisphere, they breed through the months of June through August. The mother red pandas will make nests in places like tree holes and tree roots. They make the nest out of moss and leaves. Usually two babies are born at a time. The offspring weigh between 3.9 and 4.6 ounces. The offspring usually stay with their mothers for up to a year before heading off on their own as adults.
The offspring red pandas are extremely small in body size and usually lack in the colorful fur, being born with fully gray fur on their body without a spec of color. When they are born, their ears are closed off, making them deaf, and they are blind at birth, but their ears begin to open up over time, thus allowing them to begin hearing their surroundings, and their sight develops over time so they can see their surroundings. The Red Pandas live in a fairly warm area/biome with high precipitation. Short summers with long and wet winters. The winters usually have a lot of rainfall while the summers usually become dry yet not arid. The trees cause for a lack of sunlight on the forest floor, causing more plants to grow taller to receive sunlight. There is about 40-150 cm of rainfall annually. The soil is rich in nutrients for plants, shrubs and trees to grow well. As such, sometimes temperate rainforests are used for farming, and the well-grown trees are cut down for lumber to
be sold. This animal species is currently endangered due to destruction of habitat and poaching from hunters. Their pelts sold extremely well, and still do in the black market. As such- they are hunted for these materials, then the materials are sold. Their tails, fur and other parts of their body are believed to bring luck if worn as hats or so on, but they are believed to also have medical qualities. Their fur is even sold as wedding accessories, but it’s currently extremely illegal. Also, the deforestation is causing unbalance. The forest allows for slow water runoff and to retain moisture. But due to the deforestation and monsoons, as heavily rich soils are sent away by the monsoons. Not only that, many people depend on the temperate forests for resources, and cannot afford resources from alternate sources, making changes currently unachievable in those areas. Other than that, many zoos are now taking in this species to help with their conservation, allowing for a slight better chance at survival. They have many similar features to racoons. For example, they have a ringed tail with stripes on it, hence why they were believed to be a part of the raccoon family. Despite being “Red Pandas,” they are not at all related to the giant panda; they were even discovered 50 years before the giant panda. After doing DNA studies and testing on them, they were placed into the bear family. According to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, they are similar to living fossils. Why you may ask? They have no close relatives of what we know of. Their closest relatives lived 3 to 4 million years ago before going extinct. The Red Panda species ranges in body length of 56 to 63 cm or 22 to 25 inches. Their tails usually are approximately 37 to 47 cm long, or 15 to 19 inches in length, and an average body weight ranging of 13 to 15 lbs. or pounds. The size is really depending on the areas, access to food, locations, and gender of the individual red panda. Usually on average, the male red pandas weigh more than the female red pandas, and are usually longer in body length. This larger length also applies to tail length.