Red panda facts

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

The red panda (Ailurus fulgens) is a cat sized, tree dwelling mammal of the Himalayas and southwest China. It is not a bear and not a raccoon: it is the only living member of its own family, Ailuridae. Like the giant panda it eats mostly bamboo and has a "false thumb", but it weighs only about 3.6 to 7.7 kg. The IUCN lists it as Endangered.

The original panda

The red panda was described by the French zoologist Frédéric Cuvier in 1825, decades before Western science described the giant panda. Its scientific name Ailurus fulgens is usually translated as "shining" or "fire coloured" cat. Nobody is sure where the word "panda" comes from. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance says many people link it to an old Nepalese name that may have meant something like "bamboo footed", and WWF links it to a Nepali word for a bamboo or plant eating animal. Either way, the name belonged to the red panda first.

Not a bear, not a raccoon

The red panda's ringed tail and face led early naturalists to group it with raccoons (Procyonidae). Later, some DNA results pointed toward bears. Current genetic research places it in its own ancient family, Ailuridae, within the order Carnivora, most likely closest to the group that contains skunks, raccoons and weasels. Red and giant pandas share a common ancestor millions of years back and both evolved a wrist bone "thumb" for holding bamboo, but they are not close relatives. Fossil red panda relatives have even been found in North America. More in are red pandas related to giant pandas?

One species or two?

Red pandas have traditionally been split into two subspecies, the western or Himalayan form and the Chinese or Styan's form. In 2020 a team led by researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences analysed 65 whole genomes plus Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA and concluded that these are two distinct phylogenetic species: the Himalayan red panda (A. fulgens) and the Chinese red panda (A. styani). The Chinese red panda tends to be larger and deeper red, with more distinct tail rings. The same study found the Himalayan species has very low genetic diversity after repeated population bottlenecks. The IUCN's current assessment still lists a single species, so you will see both treatments.

Life in the trees

Red pandas are skilled climbers. They use trees for shelter, to sunbathe in winter and to escape predators such as snow leopards and dholes. Unusually flexible ankles let them climb headfirst down trunks, and the long bushy tail helps with balance and wraps around the body for warmth. The russet coat blends in with the reddish moss and pale lichen on trunks in their forests (more in why are red pandas red?).

They are most active at dawn and dusk and spend about 45 percent of the day awake. In real cold they can drop into a dormant state, lowering their metabolic rate and waking every few hours to look for food, an energy saving trick that matters on a low calorie bamboo diet. In warm weather they stretch out on branches and pant.

What red pandas eat

Bamboo makes up about 95 percent of the diet. Unlike giant pandas, which eat stems and all, red pandas pick the most nutritious leaf tips and tender shoots, nibbling one leaf at a time. They digest only about 24 percent of the bamboo they eat, so they need roughly 20 to 30 percent of their body weight per day, about 1 to 2 kg. One study found females ate about 20,000 bamboo leaves in a day. See the full red panda diet.

Scent and sound

Red pandas mark territory with urine, anal gland secretions and scent glands between their footpads that release a liquid people cannot smell. They sample odours with a special structure under the tongue, an adaptation the Smithsonian describes as unique among carnivores. They are mostly quiet, but use squeals, twitters, huff quacks, hisses and grunts at close range; cubs whistle when distressed.

Breeding and cubs

In the Northern Hemisphere red pandas mate from January to March. Gestation of roughly 93 to 156 days includes delayed implantation, so cubs arrive in late spring or summer when bamboo shoots are most tender. Females build a nest in a tree hole, hollow stump or bamboo thicket. Litters are usually two cubs, born fully furred and weighing about 90 to 110 g. Young stay with the mother for about a year and reach sexual maturity at around 18 months.

Conservation status

The IUCN lists the red panda as Endangered. Its 2015 assessment estimated fewer than 10,000 in the wild with a declining trend, and Smithsonian researchers estimate the population has fallen by about 40 percent over the past two decades. Threats include forest loss for logging, grazing, firewood and farming; traps set for other animals; poaching; the illegal pet trade; and diseases such as canine distemper carried by domestic dogs. See red panda conservation.