The red panda is native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. Populations can also be found in Nepal and India. The wild population is estimated at fewer than 10,000 mature individuals and continues to decline due to habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching and inbreeding depression.
These pandas typically grow to the size of a house cat, though their big, bushy tails add an additional 18 inches, which they often use as wraparound blankets.
The majority of the red panda’s diet is bamboo shoots and leaves but they will also eat lichen, grasses, acorns, insects, grubs, small vertebrates and even bird eggs.