Red
Panda

Get behind the scenes with our adorable Red Pandas

Every day of the week you can have the opportunity to purchase a behind the scenes encounter for the ultimate Red Panda experience. During your experience the keeper will have you hand feeding and interact with these adorable guys, along with positioning them for the best photo opportunity ever.

Each of our Red Pandas have their own unique personality and during our daily keeper presentations you will learn about each and every one of them.

About

Although sharing the same name as the Giant Panda, they are only distantly related to them, and are actually more closely related to raccoons. Most Red Pandas can be found in the temperate forests of the Himalayas and some high mountain areas of China and Myanmar (Burma).

Their fur is long, thick and fuzzy to protect it against rain and cold in its mountainous habitat of up to 5000m altitude. Its colour helps the panda to blend with the reddish moss and white lichen growing on fir trees. They are 50 – 60 cm long and weigh between three and six kgs.

Red Pandas are listed as endangered, this is due to various factors, but the main one being humans. Loss of habitat and poaching has seen numbers of Red Pandas in the world drop to as low as 10,000.

Red pandas are generally quiet, but subtle vocalizations—such as squeals and twitters—can be heard at close proximity. They are also capable of creating a high-pitched whistle.

Diet

Bamboo constitutes 85 to 95 percent of the red panda’s diet. Unlike giant pandas which feed on nearly every portion of bamboo, red pandas feed selectively on the most nutritious leaf tips and, when available, tender shoots.

They may also forage for roots, succulent grasses, fruits, insects and grubs, and are known to occasionally kill and eat birds and small mammals.

Red Panda

Fun facts

Wild Red Pandas are believed to only mate during Winter Solstice (the longest night of the year)
The Red Panda was scientifically discovered 50 years before the Giant Panda.
Red Pandas have incredibly flexible wrists, allowing them to navigate along fine branches in the treetop canopies. Their long tail helps them balance when moving about high off the forest floor.

Distribution

Red pandas range from northern Myanmar (Burma) to the west Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces of China. They are also found in suitable habitat in Nepal, India and Tibet. The Ailurus fulgens fulgens subspecies is found in Nepal, northeastern India, Bhutan and part of China, while the Ailurus fulgens styani subspecies is found in China and northern Myanmar.