Red panda

• 1. Introduction

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  Roughly 10,000 red pandas are estimated to survive in the wild today. The red panda, Ailurus fulgens, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It is also called the lesser panda. It lives mostly alone in the trees of mountain forests and feeds largely on bamboo. Scientists have argued for a century over where this animal belongs on the evolutionary tree. This documentary asks how it came to carry the name panda, how a creature with a carnivore's gut survives on bamboo, and what threatens a species so well suited to steep mountain forests.

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• 2. Naming and Splitting

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  The red panda's Nepali name is thought to be nigalya ponya, which has been translated as bamboo-footed. Ponya is one of the most likely roots of the word panda, though the origin is uncertain. A related Nepali word, pajā or pañjā, means ball of the foot and claws. For more than 40 years, English speakers used the word panda for this animal alone. That changed in 1869, when the giant panda was formally described and named. The older animal then became the red panda or lesser panda, to tell the two apart.

  In 1825, Frederic Cuvier gave the species its scientific name. Ailurus comes from the Ancient Greek ailouros, meaning cat. The epithet fulgens is Latin for shining or bright. Cuvier worked from skin, paws, jawbones and teeth said to come from the mountains north of India, together with an account by Alfred Duvaucel. Thomas Hardwicke had described the animal earlier, in 1821. His paper, however, was not published until 1827.

  A skull described by Oldfield Thomas in 1902 added a third name to the story. Thomas called it Ailurus fulgens styani, in honour of Frederick William Styan, who had collected the specimen in Sichuan. Today that name belongs to the Chinese red panda, A. f. styani. The Himalayan red panda, A. f. fulgens, has a straighter profile, a lighter forehead and ochre-tipped hairs on its lower back and rump. The Chinese form has a more curved forehead, a sloping snout, a darker coat, a less white face and stronger contrast between its tail rings.

  A genetic analysis reported in 2020 found that the Himalayan and Chinese populations separated about 250,000 years ago. The researchers suggested treating them as two distinct species. Sequencing of 132 faecal samples from Northeast India and China showed two clusters, with the Siang (Brahmaputra) River as the boundary. Red pandas in southeastern Tibet and northern Myanmar belong to styani, while those in southern Tibet are fulgens in the strict sense. Glaciation on the southern Tibetan Plateau during the Pleistocene probably drove them apart. Where the whole species fits among other mammals proved even harder to settle.

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• 3. A Contested Family Tree

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  In the early 20th century, various scientists placed the red panda in Procyonidae, the family of raccoons and their allies. Most prominent biologists also believed it was related to the giant panda, which would later turn out to be a bear. A 1982 study compared the skulls of the red panda, the giant panda, other bears and procyonids. It gave the red panda its own family, Ailuridae, and judged it closer to bears. A mitochondrial DNA analysis in 1995 pointed back toward raccoons. Genetic studies in 2005-2018 and 2021 then placed it in the clade Musteloidea, alongside Procyonidae, the weasel family Mustelidae and the skunk family Mephitidae.

  The giant panda is not a close relative at all, yet both animals have elongated wrist bones, often called false thumbs, for grasping bamboo. Fossils help explain how that similarity arose. The family Ailuridae seems to have evolved in Europe in the Late Oligocene or Early Miocene. Its earliest member, Amphictis, is known from a skull only 10 cm long, and it may have been about as large as the modern species. Grooves on the side of its canine teeth place it in the family. Its sharp premolars and grinding molars suggest a generalised carnivorous diet.

  Alopecocyon and Simocyon turn up in fossils across Eurasia and North America from the Middle Miocene, and Simocyon survived into the Early Pliocene. Simocyon was about the size of a puma and probably climbed trees. It had a false thumb like the modern species, which suggests the appendage first evolved for life in the branches. Eating bamboo came later.

  Magerictis, the earliest known true panda, comes from the Middle Miocene of Spain and is known only from a single lower second molar. Later relatives include Pristinailurus bristoli of eastern North America and Parailurus, which first appears in Early Pliocene Europe and spread across Eurasia into North America. These animals were likely omnivores with highly cusped molars. The earliest fossils of the modern genus Ailurus date to no earlier than the Pleistocene, and they appear to be limited to Asia.

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• 4. Built for Branches

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  Red or orange-brown fur covers most of the red panda, with a black belly and legs. The muzzle, cheeks, brows and inner ear margins are mostly white. Its bushy tail has red and buff rings and a dark brown tip. This pattern seems to work as camouflage among trees draped in red moss and white lichen. A dense, fluffy undercoat lies beneath longer, rougher guard hairs, and the guard hairs on the back measure 47-56 mm. Hair on the soles of the paws lets the animal walk across snow.

  An adult measures 51-63.5 cm from head to body, with a tail of 28-48.5 cm. The Himalayan red panda is recorded at 3.2-9.4 kg. Among Chinese red pandas, females weigh 4-15 kg and males 4.2-13.4 kg. Each foot has five curved digits with semi-retractile claws, and the pelvis and hindlimbs have flexible joints. The tail is not prehensile, but it helps with balance in the branches. When a red panda climbs down, it goes head-first, with the hind feet gripping the middle of the trunk. On the ground it trots or bounds.

  The false thumb is an extension of the radial sesamoid, a wrist bone found in many carnivorans. It lets the red panda grip bamboo stalks, and its digits and wrist bones are highly flexible. The giant panda has a larger sesamoid that is more compressed at the sides. The red panda's has a more sunken tip, while the giant panda's curves in the middle. These differences give the giant panda more developed dexterity. The red panda's skull is wide and its lower jaw robust, yet its chewing muscles are smaller than the giant panda's because leaves and stems are less tough.

  The full genome of the red panda was sequenced in 2017. Researchers compared it with the giant panda's genome to study convergent evolution. Both species show modifications to the limb development genes DYNC2H1 and PCNT, which may play roles in forming the thumbs. Both also reactivated taste receptor genes for detecting bitterness, though the specific genes differ. A separate analysis of 53 samples from Sichuan and Yunnan showed a high level of genetic diversity. Despite all this specialisation, the red panda's digestive system is only 4.2 times its body length, with a simple stomach and no caecum.

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• 5. The Bamboo Problem

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  A red panda eats over 1.5 kg of fresh leaves or 4 kg of fresh shoots in a single day. It needs that much because bamboo passes through its gut in just two to four hours. With the digestive tract of a carnivore, it cannot break bamboo down properly. So it must take in large amounts of the most nutritious plant matter, and crude proteins and fats are the easiest to digest. Digestion is best in summer and fall and weakest in winter, and shoots are easier than leaves.

  Even so, the red panda digests almost a third of the dry matter it eats. The giant panda manages only 17 per cent. Its metabolic rate is comparable to that of other mammals its size, despite the poor diet. Microbes in the gut may help with processing bamboo, although the red panda's gut microbial community is less diverse than that of other mammals.

  In Wolong National Nature Reserve, leaves of the bamboo Bashania fangiana appeared in nearly 94 per cent of analysed droppings. Shoots were found in 59 per cent of the droppings collected in June. The main bamboo genera on the menu are Phyllostachys, Sinarundinaria, Thamnocalamus and Chimonobambusa. Bamboo leaves may be the most abundant food year-round and the only one available in winter. The animal also eats fruits, blossoms, acorns, eggs, birds and small mammals.

  When foraging, a red panda grabs a bamboo stem with one front paw and pulls it down toward its jaws. It bites the leaves with the side of its cheek teeth, then shears, chews and swallows. Smaller items such as blossoms, berries and small leaves are clipped with the incisors instead. Local diets vary widely. Droppings from Singalila National Park alone held remains of 23 plant species, including Himalayan birch, Campbell's magnolia and the stone oak Lithocarpus pachyphyllus.

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• 6. Solitary Forest Life

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  In 2019, records from three community forests in Kalikot District marked the westernmost sightings of the red panda in Nepal. The species lives across Nepal, the Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh, Bhutan, southern Tibet, northern Myanmar and China's Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. Its potential habitat totals at most 47,100 km2. Nepal holds the largest share at 22,400 km2, followed by China at 13,100 km2, India at 5,700 km2, Myanmar at 5,000 km2 and Bhutan at 900 km2.

  Within that range, red pandas favour steep slopes with dense bamboo cover close to water. Fallen logs and tree stumps matter because they give access to bamboo leaves. In Phrumsengla National Park in Bhutan, pandas used mostly easterly and southerly slopes, with a mean slope of 34° and bamboo about 23 m tall. In Fengtongzhai and Yele National Nature Reserves, they share forests with giant pandas. The red panda chooses steep ground with plenty of stems, shrubs, logs and stumps, while the giant panda prefers gentler slopes with taller but sparser bamboo. This separation lessens competition between the two bamboo eaters.

  The animal is difficult to observe in the wild, so most behaviour studies have taken place in captivity. It appears to be both nocturnal and crepuscular, and it sleeps intermittently at night. In hot weather it stretches out on a branch with its legs dangling. In cold weather it curls up with a hindlimb over its face. Leopards have been recorded preying on red pandas.

  A radio-collared female in China's Wolong National Nature Reserve held a home range of 0.94 km2, while a male held 1.11 km2. In eastern Nepal, four males had median home ranges of 1.73 km2 and six females 0.94 km2. Adults are generally solitary and territorial, and they mark boundaries with urine, faeces and secretions from the anal glands. The most odorous compound in that secretion, 2-Piperidinone, smells ammoniacal or pepper-like to humans. At least seven vocalisations have been recorded, including growls, barks, squeals, hoots, bleats, grunts and twitters. A hoot answers the approach of another animal. In a fight, pandas curve their backs and tails, clap their jaws, rise on their hind legs, raise their forelimbs and pounce.

  Red pandas are long-day breeders, so mating runs from January to March, after the winter solstice. Births follow from May to August, after a gestation of about 131 days. The mother builds a nest of twigs, bark, leaves, grass and moss in a tree hollow, stump or rock crevice. Litters hold one to four cubs, born fully furred but blind. The cubs first leave the nest after three to four months and nurse for five. They are fully grown at around 12 months and reach sexual maturity at about 18 months. Two radio-collared cubs in eastern Nepal left their mothers at 7-8 months, reached new home ranges within 26-42 days, and became residents after 42-44 days of exploring.

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• 7. Threats and Protection

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  Between the mid-1970s and the late 1990s, around 3597.9 km2 of red panda habitat were logged. In Sichuan alone, the cut timber stock reached 2661000 m3 in 1958-1960. Livestock trampling inhibits bamboo growth, and clearcutting reduces the ability of some bamboo species to regrow. Outside protected areas in Nepal, solid waste, livestock trails, herding stations, firewood gathering and medicinal plant collection all take a toll. In Lamjung District, seasonal grazing, human-made forest fires and winter bamboo harvesting for cattle fodder add to the pressure. Vehicular traffic is a significant barrier to movement between habitat patches.

  Poaching is also a major threat. In Nepal, 121 red panda skins were confiscated between 2008 and 2018. Traps meant for other wildlife have killed red pandas. In Myanmar, roads built to the Chinese border from the early 2000s opened a route for smuggling skins and live animals. In southwestern China, hunters prize the bushy tails, which are made into hats. The red panda population in China has reportedly fallen by 40 per cent over the last 50 years. Between 2005 and 2017, authorities in Sichuan confiscated 35 live and seven dead red pandas, and several traders received sentences of 3-12 years. A survey of 65 shops in nine Chinese counties in spring 2017 found only one, in Yunnan, selling hats of red panda skin.

  The species is listed in CITES Appendix I and is protected in every range country, where hunting is illegal. The IUCN Red List classes it as Endangered. A large part of its habitat lies inside protected areas. Langtang National Park has an anti-poaching unit and community-based monitoring, and Community Forest User Groups watch over habitat elsewhere in Nepal. Outreach in eastern Nepal uses information boards, radio broadcasts and the annual International Red Panda Day in September, and several schools endorsed a red panda conservation manual.

  Since 2010, programmes in 10 Nepali districts have helped villagers depend less on natural resources through better herding, food processing and alternative income. Nepal's government ratified a five-year Red Panda Conservation Action Plan in 2019. From 2016 to 2019 in Merak, Bhutan, 120 herder families helped restore and fence 35 ha of high-elevation rangeland. Villagers in Arunachal Pradesh set up two community conservation areas. China runs projects including Grain for Green and the Natural Forest Protection Project. Its National Wildlife/Natural Reserve Construction Project does not list the red panda as a key species, but the animal may benefit from protection given to the giant panda and the golden snub-nosed monkey.

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• 8. Zoos and Stories

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  London Zoo received its first red panda in 1869, one caught in Darjeeling, and a second in 1876. The Calcutta Zoo acquired a live animal in 1877, the Philadelphia Zoo in 1906, and the Artis and Cologne Zoos in 1908. The same year, the first captive cubs were born in an Indian zoo. In 1940, the San Diego Zoo imported four red pandas from India that had been caught in Nepal, and their first litter arrived in 1941. By 1969, about 250 red pandas had been exhibited in zoos.

  Coordinated breeding began in the late 20th century. The International Red Panda Studbook was set up in 1978, followed by the Red Panda European Endangered Species Programme in 1985. Zoo members ratified a global master plan for captive breeding in 1993. By late 2015, 219 red pandas lived in 42 zoos in Japan. By the end of 2019, 182 European zoos kept 407 of them. Regional programmes also run in North American, Australasian and South African zoos.

  Captive animals can live up to 14 years, but zoos have documented a range of illnesses. At Knoxville Zoo, 14 red pandas suffered severe ringworm, and the tails of two had to be amputated. A red panda in a Kansas zoo died of Chagas disease. Eight captive pandas in a Chinese zoo developed fever and shortness of breath before dying of pneumonia, and autopsies showed antibodies to the protozoans Toxoplasma gondii and Sarcocystis.

  A drawing of a red panda survives on a 13th-century Chinese scroll, though the animal's role in local folklore is limited. In Nepal's Taplejung District, its claws are used to treat epilepsy. Magar shamans in western Nepal wear its skin and fur in ritual dress, believing it protects against evil spirits. People in central Bhutan consider red pandas to be reincarnations of Buddhist monks. Among the Yi people, tails and fur hats are a good-luck charm, and at weddings the bridegroom traditionally carries the hide.

  Sikkim recognised the red panda as its state animal in the early 1990s, and it served as mascot of the Darjeeling Tea Festival. It appears on stamps and coins from several range states. Animated characters based on it appear in Kung Fu Panda, Aggretsuko and Disney/Pixar's Turning Red. The red panda is also the namesake of the Firefox browser.

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