Giant panda vs red panda: the differences

Published 8 October 2026 · Last updated 8 October 2026 · By the PandasWise team

Despite the shared name, giant pandas and red pandas are not close relatives. The giant panda is a black and white bear weighing about 70 to 125 kg; the red panda is a cat sized, russet tree climber weighing about 3.6 to 7.7 kg and the only living member of its own family. What they share is a bamboo diet, a wrist bone "false thumb" for gripping it, and mountain forest homes in Asia.

Side by side

	Giant panda	Red panda
Scientific name	Ailuropoda melanoleuca	Ailurus fulgens (and A. styani where split)
Family	Ursidae (bears)	Ailuridae (only living member)
Weight	Females 70 to 100 kg; males 86 to 125 kg	About 3.6 to 7.7 kg
Size	1.2 to 1.8 m long; 60 to 90 cm at the shoulder	Body 56 to 62.5 cm plus a 37 to 47 cm tail
Coat	Black and white	Russet red with dark legs and belly, pale face markings, ringed tail
Tail	Short stub	Long and bushy, used for balance and warmth
Bamboo share of diet	About 99%; eats stems, shoots and leaves	About 95%; picks leaf tips and shoots
Daily food	About 12 to 45 kg of bamboo depending on source and plant part	About 1 to 2 kg (20 to 30% of body weight)
Wild range	Central China only (Sichuan, Shaanxi, Gansu)	Nepal, India, Bhutan, northern Myanmar, southwest China
Typical elevation	About 1,200 to 3,500 m	Generally above about 1,200 m
Lifestyle	Mostly on the ground, climbs well; active in long feeding bouts day and night	Mostly in trees; most active at dawn and dusk
Cold weather	Does not hibernate; stays active	Can enter a dormant, low metabolism state
Young per litter	One or two; mother usually raises one	Usually two
Newborn	About 85 to 140 g, pink and nearly hairless	About 90 to 110 g, fully furred
Lifespan	About 15 to 20 years wild; about 30 in human care	Up to about 23 years in human care
IUCN status	Vulnerable (2016)	Endangered (2015)
Wild population	Nearly 1,900 (China, 2025 data)	Fewer than 10,000 estimated (IUCN 2015), decreasing
First described by Western science	1869	1825

What they have in common

A bamboo diet on a carnivore's gut. Both belong to the order Carnivora and have a simple carnivore type digestive system, so both digest bamboo poorly and must eat a lot of it.
A false thumb. Both have an enlarged wrist bone that works like a thumb for holding bamboo. Because the two lineages are not closely related, this is usually described as convergent evolution: the same solution evolving separately.
Cool mountain forests with dense bamboo understories in Asia, and overlapping ranges in parts of southwest China.
Short breeding windows of a few days or less each year, with delayed implantation timing births.
Threats from habitat loss and fragmentation.

How to tell them apart in one second

Black and white and bear sized: giant panda. Red, cat sized, with a long striped tail and up a tree: red panda. If you are unsure from a photo, look at the tail. Giant pandas have a short stub; red pandas have a long, ringed, bushy tail.

Frequently asked questions

Which came first, the red panda or the giant panda?

The red panda was described by Western science first, in 1825; the giant panda followed decades later, in 1869. The name panda originally belonged to the red panda.

Is a red panda a baby giant panda?

No. They are different species in different families. Even a newborn giant panda is pink and nearly hairless, while red panda cubs are born furred. Adult red pandas weigh about 3.6 to 7.7 kg; adult giant pandas weigh about 70 to 125 kg.

Why are both called pandas?

The name was first used for the red panda. When the giant panda became known, the two shared a bamboo diet and a wrist bone false thumb, and the giant panda came to share the name.