Animal of the Day: Red Panda!

These guys live in the Himalayas and China and are currently vulnerable due to poaching and habitat loss. It has a peculiar gate because it's front legs are shorter than the back legs. Red Pandas feed on bamboo primarily, but also chomp down on eggs and birds and small mammals.

The red panda is in it's own family, unrelated to bears, raccoons, or pandas. Their tails provide camouflage and balance while climbing about. When hot, pandas lay on tree limbs with their own limbs hanging, when cold they curl up and wrap their tail around their body. Red pandas clean themselves like cats. When threatened and unable to scurry away, red pandas stand on their backlegs to make themselves appear bigger and use their sharp claws to fend of attack.

Red pandas make awesome twittering noises!

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