Although there is "Panda" in the name of Red Panda, they are only a distant relative of Panda. On the contrary, they are more closely related to other species of Mustelidae.
The red pandas are a kind of forest animal that like warm and humidity and is resistant to cold. They live in the temperate climate of 2500-4800m deciduous and coniferous forests. They mainly live in coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests or evergreen broad-leaved forests below 3000 meters above sea level, usually under the forests with bamboo and hollow trees. The perennial temperature in these areas is generally below 25 ℃ in summer and 0-10 ℃ in winter, with an average temperature of 10-25 ℃ and an average annual precipitation of 350 cm. The activity area of red pandas is relatively large. In summer, red pandas mostly live in the valley with streams on the shady slope. In winter, they live in the southern slope valley basin. After snow, they even go down to the grass slopes and shrubs near the villages.
Red pandas usually live in big tree holes, stone holes, and rock crevices. They come out in the morning and evening to look for food. During the day, they sleep in caves or in the shade of trees. When they sleep, they like to curl up their heads in their limbs, with their forelimbs around their heads and their tails covering their bodies. Sometimes the feet droop high on the branches. Red pandas are good at climbing. They can often climb high and thin branches to rest or avoid enemies. Because they have thick hairs on the soles of their feet, they are also suitable for walking on the wet mossy land or rocks.
The red panda was regarded as a national animal by Sikkim in the 1990s. At Birmingham Nature Center in the UK, a male red panda named Babu ran away and became popular in the media before it was captured. It was subsequently selected as "Brummie of the year", the most influential event of the year in Birmingham, and it was the first animal to win this honor. In 2013, a female panda named "Rusty" in the US National Zoo in Washington, D.C., also became popular online because of her escape experience.
On June 24th, 2015, a red panda named "Nan" living in a zoo in Kitakyushu, Japan, just celebrated its 24th birthday. For a red panda, this age is like 108 years old for human, so it is reported that it is the oldest panda recorded in the world.
