Ailurus fulgens

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Cladus: Unikonta
Cladus: Opisthokonta
Cladus: Holozoa
Regnum: Animalia
Subregnum: Eumetazoa
Cladus: Bilateria
Cladus: Nephrozoa
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Megaclassis: Osteichthyes
Cladus: Sarcopterygii
Cladus: Rhipidistia
Cladus: Tetrapodomorpha
Cladus: Eotetrapodiformes
Cladus: Elpistostegalia
Superclassis: Tetrapoda
Cladus: Reptiliomorpha
Cladus: Amniota
Cladus: Synapsida
Cladus: Eupelycosauria
Cladus: Sphenacodontia
Cladus: Sphenacodontoidea
Cladus: Therapsida
Cladus: Theriodontia
Subordo: Cynodontia
Infraordo: Eucynodontia
Cladus: Probainognathia
Cladus: Prozostrodontia
Cladus: Mammaliaformes
Classis: Mammalia
Subclassis: Trechnotheria
Infraclassis: Zatheria
Supercohors: Theria
Cohors: Eutheria
Infraclassis: Placentalia
Cladus: Boreoeutheria
Superordo: Laurasiatheria
Cladus: Ferae
Ordo: Carnivora
Subordo: Caniformia
Infraordo: Arctoidea
Superfamilia: Musteloidea

Familia: Ailuridae
Genus: Ailurus
Species: Ailurus fulgens
Subspecies: A. f. fulgens – A. f. refulgens
Name

Ailurus fulgens F. G. Cuvier, 1825
Type locality

"Indes orientales".

References

In E. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire and F. G. Cuvier, Hist. Nat. Mammifères, pt. 4, 5(50): "Panda" 3 pp., 1 pl..
Miles S. Roberts and John L. Gittleman 1984. Ailurus fulgens, Mammalian Species, American Society of Mammologist, No. 222, pp. 1–8, 4 figs.
Ailurus fulgens in Mammal Species of the World.
Wilson, Don E. & Reeder, DeeAnn M. (Editors) 2005. Mammal Species of the World – A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Third edition. ISBN 0-8018-8221-4.
IUCN: Ailurus fulgens F. G. Cuvier, 1825 (Vulnerable)

Vernacular names
অসমীয়া: ৰঙা পাণ্ডা
български: Червена панда
català: Panda vermell
čeština: Panda červená
dansk: Rød panda
Deutsch: Kleiner Panda
Ελληνικά: Αίλουρος ο φωτεινός
English: Red Panda
Esperanto: Malgranda pando
español: Panda rojo
suomi: Kultapanda
français: Petit Panda
עברית: פנדה אדומה
magyar: Vörös macskamedve
Bahasa Indonesia: Panda Merah
íslenska: Rauð panda
italiano: Panda minore
日本語: レッサーパンダ
ქართული: მცირე პანდა
한국어: 레서판다
Nederlands: Kleine panda
norsk: Rød panda
polski: Panda mała
português: panda-vermelho
română: Panda roșu
русский: Малая панда
српски / srpski: Црвена панда - Crvena panda
svenska: Kattbjörn
தமிழ்: சிவப்பு பாண்டா
ไทย: แพนด้าแดง
Türkçe: Küçük panda
中文: 小貓熊

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The red panda (Ailurus fulgens, or shining cat), is a small arboreal mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China.[2] It is the only species of the genus Ailurus. Slightly larger than a domestic cat, it has reddish-brown fur, a long, shaggy tail, and a waddling gait due to its shorter front legs. It feeds mainly on bamboo, but is omnivorous and may also eat eggs, birds, insects, and small mammals. It is a solitary animal, mainly active from dusk to dawn, and is largely sedentary during the day. It is only distantly related to the giant panda.

The red panda has been classified as Vulnerable by IUCN because its population is estimated at less than 10,000 mature individuals. Although red pandas are protected by national laws in their range countries, their numbers in the wild continue to decline mainly due to habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, and inbreeding depression.[2]

It has been previously classified in the families Procyonidae (raccoons) and Ursidae (bears), but recent research has placed it in its own family Ailuridae, in superfamily Musteloidea along with Mustelidae, Procyonidae, and Mephitidae.[4] Two subspecies are recognized.

Physical characteristics
Red panda descending head first

Head and body of red pandas are 56 to 63 cm (22 to 25 in) long, and their tail about 37 to 47 cm (15 to 19 in). Males weigh 3.7 to 6.2 kg (8.2 to 14 lb) and females 4.2 to 6.0 kg (9.3 to 13 lb).[5] They have long, soft reddish-brown fur on the upper parts, blackish fur on the lower parts, and a light face with tear markings and robust cranial-dental features. The light face has white badges similar to those of a raccoon, but each individual can have distinctive markings. Their roundish head has medium-sized upright ears, a black nose, and very dark eyes: almost pitch black. Their long bushy tail with six alternating yellowish red transverse ochre rings provides balance and excellent camouflage against its habitat of moss- and lichen-covered trees. The legs are black and short with thick fur on the soles of the paws. This fur serves as thermal insulation on snow-covered or ice surfaces and conceals scent glands which are also present on the anus.[6]

The red panda is specialized as a bamboo feeder with strong, curved and sharp semi-retractile claws [7] standing inward for grasping of narrow tree branches, leaves and fruit. Like the giant panda, it has a “false thumb” that is an extension of the wrist bone. When descending a tree headfirst, the red panda rotates its ankle to control its descent, one of the few climbing species to do so.[8]

Distribution and habitat
A Red panda lies sleeping on a branch high in a tree, with tail stretched out behind and legs dangling on each side of the branch
Red panda sleeping

The red panda is endemic to the temperate forests of the Himalayas, and ranges from the foothills of western Nepal to China in the east.[9] Its easternmost limit is the Qinling Mountains of the Shaanxi Province in China. It is found in southern Tibet, Sikkim, Assam and Bhutan, in the northern mountains of Myanmar, and in southwestern China in the Hengduan Mountains of Sichuan and Gongshan Mountains in Yunnan. It may also live in southwest Tibet and northern Arunachal Pradesh, but this has not been documented. Locations with the highest density of red pandas include an area in the Himalayas that has been proposed as having been a refuge for a variety of endemic species in the Pleistocene. The distribution range of the red panda should be considered disjunct, rather than continuous.[5] A disjunct population inhabits the Meghalaya Plateau of northeastern India.[10] The species' westernmost limit is the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve in Nepal, where red pandas were found during a survey in the 1970s.[11] Red pandas may also occur in Nepal's Rara National Park located farther west of the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve.[12]

The red panda lives between 2,200 and 4,800 meters (7,200 and 15,700 ft) altitude, inhabiting areas of moderate temperature between 10 and 25 °C / 50 and 77 °F with little annual change. It prefers mountainous mixed deciduous and conifer forests, especially with old trees and dense understories of bamboo.[5][13]

The effective population size of the Sichuan population is larger and more stable than that of the Yunnan population, implying a southward expansion from Sichuan to Yunnan.[14]

The red panda has become extirpated from the Chinese provinces of Guizhou, Gansu, Shaanxi and Qinghai.[15]

Distribution of subspecies

Distribution of the red panda is disjointed, and there are two extant subspecies:

* Western red panda Ailurus fulgens fulgens (Cuvier, 1825) — lives in the western part of its range: in Nepal, Assam, Sikkim and Bhutan;
* Styan's red panda Ailurus fulgens styani — lives in the east-northeastern part of its range: in southern China and northern Myanmar.[16]

Ailurus fulgens styani has been described by Thomas in 1902 based on one skull from a specimen collected in Szechwan.[17] Pocock distinguished styani from fulgens by its longer winter coat and more abundant blackness in the pelage, bigger skull, more strongly curved forehead, and more robust teeth. His description is based on skulls and skins collected in Szechwan, Myitkyina close to the border of Yunnan, and Upper Burma.[18]

The Styan's red panda is supposedly larger and darker in color than its Western cousin, but there is considerable variation in both subspecies, and some individuals may be brown or yellowish brown rather than red.[13]

The Brahmaputra river is often considered the natural division between the two subspecies, where it makes a curve around the eastern end of the Himalayas. Although some authors suggest that A. f. fulgens extends farther eastward, into China.

Biology and behavior

Behavior

Red pandas are territorial. Adults are solitary except during mating season. They are generally quiet except for some twittering and whistling communication sounds. They have been reported to be both nocturnal and crepuscular, sleeping on tree branches or in tree hollows during the day and increasing their activity in the late afternoon and early evening hours. They sleep stretched out on a branch with legs dangling when it is hot, and curled up with its tail over the face when it is cold.[5] They are very heat sensitive, with an optimal “well-being” temperature between 17 and 25 °C (63 and 77 °F), and cannot tolerate temperatures over 25 °C (77 °F).
Red panda standing

Shortly after waking, red pandas clean their fur like a cat, licking their front paws and then rubbing their back, stomach and sides. They also rub their back and belly along the sides of trees or rocks. Then they patrol their territory, marking it with urine and a weak musk-smelling secretion from their anal gland. They search for food running along the ground or through the trees. They use their front paws to place the food into the mouth, and drink by plunging a paw into the water and then licking the paw.[5]

Predators of the red panda include the snow leopard, martens (Mustelidae), and people. If they feel threatened or sense danger, they may try to escape by climbing a rock column or tree. If they can no longer flee, they stand on their hind legs to make themselves appear larger and use their sharp claws on the front paws to defend themselves.

Diet

Red pandas are excellent climbers, and forage largely in trees. They eat mostly bamboo. Like the Giant Panda, they cannot digest cellulose, so they must consume a large volume of bamboo to survive. Their diet consists of about two-thirds bamboo, but they also eat berries, fruit, mushrooms, roots, acorns, lichen, and grasses. Occasionally, they supplement their diet with young birds, fish, eggs, small rodents, and insects. In captivity, they readily eat meat. They do little more than eat and sleep due to their low-calorie diet.

Bamboo shoots are more easily digested than leaves, exhibiting the highest digestibility in summer and autumn, intermediate digestibility in the spring, and lowest digestibility in the winter. These variations correlate with the nutrient contents in the bamboo. Red pandas process bamboo poorly, especially the cellulose and cell wall components. This implies that microbial digestion plays only a minor role in their digestive strategy. In order to survive on this poor-quality diet, they have to eat the high-quality sections of the bamboo plant such as the tender leaves and shoots in large quantities, over 1.5 kilograms / 3.3 pounds of fresh leaves and 4 kilograms / 8.8 pounds of fresh shoots daily. This food passes through the digestive tract fairly rapidly (~2–4 hours) so as to maximize nutrient intake.[19] Red pandas can taste artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, the only known non-primate to be able to do so.[20]

Reproduction

Red pandas are able to reproduce from around 18 months of age, and are fully mature at 2–3 years. Adults rarely interact in the wild except to mate. Both sexes may mate with more than one partner during the mating season from mid-January to early March.[21] A few days before birth, females begin to collect material, such as brushwood, grass, and leaves, to build a nest, which is normally located in a hollow tree or a rock crevice. After a gestation period of 112 to 158 days, the female gives birth in mid-June to late July to about one to four blind and deaf cubs weighing 110 to 130 grams (3.9 to 4.6 oz) each.[5]

After birth, the mother cleans the cubs and can then recognize each by their smell. At first, she spends 60% to 90% of her time with the cubs. After the first week, the mother starts spending more time outside the nest, returning every few hours to nurse and groom the cubs. She moves the young frequently among several nests, all of which she keeps clean. The cubs start to open their eyes at about 18 days of age. By about 90 days, they have achieved full adult fur and coloring, and begin to venture out of the nest. They also start eating solid foods at this point, weaning at around 6–8 months of age. The cubs stay with their mother until the next litter is born in the following summer. Males rarely help raise the young, and only if they live in pairs or in small groups.[5]

The average lifespan is 8–10 years, but individuals have been known to reach 15 years.

Threats
A red panda in the Parco Natura Viva, Bussolengo near Verona, Italy

The primary threats to red pandas are direct harvest from the wild, live or dead, competition with domestic livestock resulting in habitat degradation, and deforestation resulting in habitat loss or fragmentation. The relative importance of these factors is different in each region, and is not well understood.[13] For instance, in India the biggest threat seems to be habitat loss followed by poaching, while in China the biggest threat seems to be hunting and poaching.[2] A 40% decrease in red panda populations has been reported in China over the last 50 years, and populations in western Himalayan areas are considered to be lower.[15]

Deforestation can inhibit the spread of red pandas and exacerbate the natural population subdivision by topography and ecology, leading to severe fragmentation of the remaining wild population. Less than 40 animals in 4 separate groups share resources with humans in Nepal's Langtang National Park, where only 6% of 1,710 square kilometres (660 sq mi) is preferred red panda habitat. Although direct competition for food with domestic livestock is not significant, livestock can depress bamboo growth by trampling.[22] Small groups of animals with little opportunity for exchange between them face the risk of inbreeding, decreased genetic diversity, and even extinction. In addition, clearcutting for firewood or agriculture, including hillside terracing, removes old trees that provide maternal dens and decreases the ability of some species of bamboo to regenerate.[13]

In Southwest China, red pandas are hunted for their fur, especially for the highly-valued bushy tails from which hats are produced. In these areas, the fur is often used for local cultural ceremonies, and in weddings the bridegroom traditionally carries the hide. The "good-luck charm" red panda-tail hats are also used by Chinese newlyweds.[15]

In the past, red pandas were captured and sold to zoos. Glatston reports that "in International Zoo News, Munro (1969) reported he personally had handled 350 red pandas in seventeen years."[23] Thanks to CITES this number has decreased substantially in recent years, but poaching continues, and red pandas are often sold to private collectors at exorbitant prices. In some parts of Nepal and India, red pandas are kept as pets.[24]

The red panda has a naturally low birth rate (usually single or twin births per year), and a high death rate in the wild.

Conservation
The red panda has been confused with other animals

The red panda is listed in CITES Appendix I.[25] The species has been classified as vulnerable in the IUCN Red List since 2008 because the global population is estimated at about 10,000 individuals, with a decreasing population trend; only about half of the total area of potential habitat of 142,000 km2 (55,000 sq mi) is actually being used by the species. Due to their shy and secretive nature, and their largely nocturnal habits, observation of red pandas is difficult. Therefore, population figures in the wild are determined by population density estimates and not direct counts.[2]

Worldwide population estimates range from less than 2,500 individuals[21] to between 16,000 and 20,000 individuals.[10] In 1999, the total population in China was estimated at between 3,000 and 7,000 individuals.[15] In 2001, the wild population in India was estimated at between 5,000 and 6,000 individuals.[10] Estimates for Nepal indicate only a few hundred individuals.[26] There are no records from Bhutan or Myanmar.

Reliable population numbers are hard to find, partly because other animals have been mistaken for the red panda. For instance, one report from Myanmar stated that red pandas were still fairly common in some areas, and was accompanied by a photograph of a “red panda” as proof. The photograph in question depicted a species of civet.[27]

The red panda is protected in all range countries, and hunting is illegal.[2] Beyond this, conservation efforts are highly variable between countries:

* China has 35 protected areas covering about 42.4% of red panda habitat.[2]
* India has 20 protected areas with known or possible red panda populations in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and West Bengal such as Khangchendzonga National Park, Namdapha National Park and Singalila National Park, and a coordinated conservation policy for the red panda.[2]
* In Nepal, known populations occur in Langtang National Park, Sagarmatha National Park, Makalu Barun National Park, Rara National Park, Annapurna Conservation Area, Kanchenjunga Conservation Area, and in Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve.[28]
* Bhutan has 5 protected areas that support red panda populations.[2]
* Myanmar has 26 protected areas, of which at least one or more host red panda populations.[2]

In situ initiatives

A community-managed forest in Ilam District of eastern Nepal is home to 15 red pandas who generate household income through tourism activities including home stay. Villagers in the high‐altitude areas of Arunachal Pradesh have formed the Pangchen Red Panda Conservation Alliance comprising five villages with a community‐conserved forest area of 200 km2 (77 sq mi) at an altitude of 2,500 m (8,200 ft) to over 4,000 m (13,000 ft).[29]

In captivity

A red panda moves around its enclosure at the National Zoo in Washington, DC.

The red panda is quite adaptable to living in captivity, and is common in zoos worldwide. By 1992, there had been more than 300 births in captivity, and there were more than 300 individuals living in 85 institutions worldwide.[30] By 2001, there were 182 individuals in North American zoos alone.[31] As of 2006, the international studbook listed more than 800 individuals in zoos and parks around the world. Out of these, 511 individuals of subspecies fulgens were kept in 173 institutions.[32] And 306 individuals of subspecies styani were kept in 81 institutions.[33]

The International Studbook is currently managed at the Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands. In cooperation with the International Red Panda Management Group, they coordinate the Species Survival Plan in North America, the European Endangered Species Programme in Europe and other captive breeding programs in Australia, India, Japan and China.[33][34] In 2009, Sarah Glass, Curator of red pandas and Special Exhibits at the Knoxville Zoo in Knoxville, Tennessee, was appointed as coordinator for the North American Red Panda Species Survival Plan. The Knoxville Zoo has the largest number of captive red panda births in the Western Hemisphere (93 as of September 2009). Only the Rotterdam Zoo in the Netherlands has had more captive births worldwide.[32][33]

Successes in red panda captive breeding include:

* The Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park in Darjeeling, India, successfully released four captive bred red pandas to the wild in August and November 2003.[34]
* At the Valley Zoo in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, twins were born in 2007 and 2008, a single birth in 2009, and twins in 2010 (one died 9 September 2010)[35][36][37]
* At the Denver Zoo in Denver, Colorado, twins were born in 2008 and quadruplets in 2009.[38]
* At the Red River Zoo in Fargo, North Dakota, twins were born in 2008 and triplets in 2009.[39]
* Triplets in September 2009 at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in Cleveland, Ohio.[40]
* Twins in June 2010 at the Kristiansand Zoo and Amusement Park in Kristiansand, Norway[41]
* Twins in June 2010 at the Zagreb Zoo in Zagreb, Croatia[42]
* Twins in May 2010 at the Calgary Zoo in Calgary, Alberta[43]

Because the red panda is considered a very attractive or cute animal, and is not much larger than a house cat, it would seem to be ideal for a pet. Despite this, and despite reports that Indira Gandhi kept red pandas as pets when she was a child, there does not seem to have ever been widespread adoption of these animals as pets.[44] Due to its listing in CITES Appendix I, getting a red panda as a pet would now be quite difficult.

Phylogenetics
Main article: Ailuridae

The taxonomic classification of the red panda has been controversial since it was discovered. French zoologist Frédéric Cuvier initially described the red panda in 1825, and classified it as a close relative of the Raccoon (Procyonidae), even though he gave it the genus name Ailurus "cat" based on superficial similarities with domestic cats. The specific epithet is the Latin adjective fulgens "shining".[45] At various times it has been placed in Procyonidae, Ursidae, with Ailuropoda in Ailuridae, and in its own family, Ailuridae. This uncertainty comes from difficulty determining whether certain characteristics of Ailurus are phylogenetically conservative or are derived and convergent with species of similar ecological habits.[5]

Evidence based on the fossil record, serology, karyology, behavior, anatomy, and reproduction reflect closer affinities with Procyonidae than Ursidae. However, ecological and foraging specializations and distinct geographical distribution in relation to modern Procyonids support classification in the separate family Ailuridae.[1][5][46]

Recent molecular-systematic DNA research also places the red panda into its own family Ailuridae, which is in turn part of the broad superfamily Musteloidea that also includes skunk, raccoon, and weasel families.[4][46][47]

It is not a bear, nor closely related to the giant panda, nor a raccoon, nor a lineage of uncertain affinities. Rather it is a basal lineage of musteloid, with a long history of independence from its closest relatives (skunks, raccoons, and otters/weasels/badgers).
—Flynn et al., Whence the Red Panda,[4] p197

The name Ailurus fulgens refulgens is sometimes incorrectly used for A. f. styani. This stems from a lapsus made by Henri Milne-Edwards in his 1874 paper "Recherches pour servir à l'histoire naturelle des mammifères comprenant des considérations sur la classification de ces animaux",[48] making A. f. refulgens a nomen nudum.[6][16] The most recent edition of "Mammal Species of the World" still shows the subspecies as A. f. refulgens.[1] This has been corrected in more recent works including "A guide to the mammals of China"[49] and "Handbook of the Mammals of the World, Volume 1: Carnivores."[3]

Evolutionary history

The red panda is considered a living fossil and only distantly related to the Giant Panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca). Their common ancestor can be traced back to the Early Tertiary Period tens of millions of years ago, with a wide distribution across Eurasia. Fossils of the red panda Parailurus anglicus have been unearthed from China in the east to Britain in the west.[50]

In 1977, a single tooth of the extinct panda Parailurus was discovered in the Pliocene Ringold Formation of Washington State. This first North American record is almost identical to European specimens and indicates the immigration of this species from Asia.[51] In 2004, a tooth from a red panda species never before recorded in North America was discovered at the Gray Fossil Site in Tennessee. The tooth dates from 4.5-7 million years ago.[52] This species described as Pristinailurus bristoli indicates that a second, more primitive ailurine lineage inhabited North America during the Miocene. Cladistic analysis suggests that Parailurus and Ailurus are sister-taxa.[50][53]

The discovery in Spain of the postcranial remains of Simocyon batalleri, a Miocene relative to the red panda, supports a sister-group relationship between red pandas and giant pandas. The discovery suggests that the red panda's "false thumb" was an adaptation to arboreal locomotion — independent of the giant panda's adaptation to manipulate bamboo — one of the most dramatic cases of convergent evolution among vertebrates.[54]

Taxonomic history
Red panda at Munich Zoo, Germany

The first known written record of the red panda occurs in a 13th-century Chou Dynasty scroll depicting a hunting scene between hunters and the red panda.[30][44]

Major General Thomas Hardwicke’s 1821 presentation of an article titled "Description of a new Genus of the Class Mammalia, from the Himalaya Chain of Hills Between Nepaul and the Snowy Mountains" at the Linnean Society in London is usually regarded as the moment the red panda became a bona fide species in Western science. Hardwicke proposed the name "Wha" and explained: "It is frequently discovered by its loud cry or call, resembling the word ‘Wha,’ often repeating the same : hence is derived one of the local names by which it is known. It is also called Chitwa." Hardwicke's paper was not published until 1827, by which time Frédéric Cuvier had published his description and a figure. Hardwicke's originally proposed taxonomic name was removed from the 1827 publication of his paper with his permission, and naming credit is now given to Cuvier.[55]

Frédéric Cuvier had received the specimen he described from his brother's stepson Alfred Duvaucel who had sent it "from the mountains north of India".[56] He was the first who used both the binomial Ailurus fulgens and the vernacular name Panda in reference to the species in his description published in 1825 in Histoire Naturelle des Mammifères.[57][58] Ailurus is adopted from the ancient Greek word αἴλουρος meaning cat.[59] Fulgens is Latin for shining, bright.[60] Panda is the French name for the Roman goddess of peace and travelers, who was called upon before starting a difficult journey.[61] Whether this is the origin of the French vernacular name Panda remains uncertain. In later publications, the name is claimed to be adopted from a Himalayan language.

Local names

The red panda's local names differ from place to place. The Lepcha people call it sak nam. In Nepal, the species is called bhalu biralo (bear-cat) and habre. The Sherpa people of Nepal and Sikkim call it ye niglva ponva and wah donka.[62] The word wậː is Sunuwari meaning bear; in Tamang language, a small, red bear is called tāwām.[63]

Additionally, Pocock lists the vernacular names Ye and Nigálya ponya (Nepal); Thokya and Thongwa (Limbu); Oakdonga or Wakdonka and Woker (Bhotia); Saknam Sunam (Lepcha).[18] Nigálya may originate from the Nepali word निङालो niṅālo or nĩgālo meaning a particular kind of small bamboo, namely Arundinaria intermedia, but also refers to a kind of small leopard, or cat-bear.[64] The word pónya may originate from the Nepali word पञ्जा pajā meaning claw, or पौँजा paũjā meaning paw of an animal.[65] Nigálya pónya may translate to 'bamboo claw' or 'bamboo paw'.

Nigálya pónya, nyala ponga, and poonya are said to mean eater of bamboo. It could be that the name panda originates from panjā.[66] See also talk page on this topic.

According to Chinese dictionaries, the red panda is called 小熊猫/小熊貓 (xiǎo xióng māo, "small bear cat) or 红熊猫/紅熊貓 (hóng xióng māo, "red bear cat").[67][68] The English name firefox is often claimed by English sources to be a literal translation of the Chinese name for the red panda,[69][70][71][72] but "firefox" (火狐, or huǒ hú) in Chinese refers to the Firefox web browser.[67][73][74] The Giant Panda is called 熊猫/熊貓 (xióng māo, or "bear cat").[75]

In English, the red panda is also called lesser panda, though due to the pejorative implications of this name, "red" is generally preferred.[2] Many other languages use red panda, or variations of shining/gold or lesser/small in their names for this species. For instance, червена панда in Bulgarian, panda roux in French, and panda rojo in Spanish all mean red panda. Since at least as far back as 1855, one of its French names has been panda éclatant (shining panda).[76] In Finnish, it is called kultapanda ("gold panda"). Variations of lesser panda occur in French petit panda ("small panda"), in Spanish panda menor ("lesser panda"), in Dutch kleine panda ("small panda"), in Russian «малая панда» (malaya panda, "small panda"), in Korean 애기판다 (aeki panda, "baby panda"), in Japanese ressā panda (レッサーパンダ, transliteration of English "lesser panda"?).

Other names attributed to this species include fire cat, bright panda and common panda.[30][77]

Cultural depictions

The red panda was recognized as the state animal of Sikkim in the early 1990s,[78] and was the mascot of the Darjeeling Tea Festival.[44]

In southwest China, red pandas are hunted for their fur, especially for the highly-valued bushy tails from which hats are produced. In these areas, the fur is often used for local cultural ceremonies, and in weddings the bridegroom traditionally carries the hide. The "good-luck charm" red panda-tail hats are also used by Chinese newlyweds.[15] This practice may be quite old, as the red panda seems to be depicted in a 13th century Chinese pen and ink scroll showing a hunting scene. There is little or no mention of the red panda in the culture and folklore of Nepal.[44]

The Firefox browser is said to have been named after a Chinese name for red panda: 火狐, or "fire fox." However, Mozilla claims different motivations for the naming in its branding statements, saying:

It's similar to Firebird. It's easy to remember. It sounds good. It's unique. We like it. And we weren't able to find any other project or company even remotely similar to a web browser that uses the same name.
—Mozilla.org, Why change the name?[79]

In addition, an article on its branding by the artist says that although Firefox is a red panda, the logo design is a red fox.[80] Despite these statements, Mozilla says that firefox is another name for Red Panda (citing a mirror of the Wikipedia red panda article as its source[81]), and in 2010 the Firefox Web site started linking to a "live feed of firefox cubs"[82] (red pandas[83]).

An anthropomorphic red panda was featured as Master Shifu, the Kung Fu teacher, in the 2008 movie Kung Fu Panda. Some of the comments about this film indicate the lack of awareness about the red panda in the United States at this time. Although most of the reviewers got the species correct, some nevertheless mistook it for a tiny wolf,[84] a rodent,[85] and a lemur.[86] In an interview, Dustin Hoffman also indicated that he did not know much about the animal when he first agreed to voice the character.[87][88]

In 2005, Babu, a male red panda at Birmingham Nature Centre, in Birmingham, England, escaped[89] and briefly became a media celebrity[89][90], before being recaptured. He was subsequently voted Brummie of the year[89][90] (A Brummie is a person from Birmingham).

Footnotes

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5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Roberts, M. S.; Gittleman, J. L. (1984). "Ailurus fulgens". Mammalian Species (222): 1–8. http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/ . Retrieved 2009-09-17.
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7. ^ Roberts, M. S.; Gittleman, J. L. (1984). "Ailurus fulgens". Mammalian Species (222): p3. http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/4231/1/Roberts1984.pdf
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