Hi Everyone!
This week, I’m going to be blogging about another one of my favourite animals… Can you guess what it is? If you looked at the picture above, (and I hope you did), and if you know what animal it is… Get ready for the big reveal… THE RED PANDA! I’ve only seen it once in a zoo, but I’ve been eager to study them more. At the zoo, I once heard someone say something like, “Is that a cat? Or a bear? Or a red raccoon?” I sort of laughed and said, “Hey, that’s not a cat, a bear, or a red raccoon! It’s a red panda!” That person just said, “Oh, I didn’t know that. Thanks!” And that was the end of it. Did you know red pandas are sometimes called cat-bears? To find out more about red pandas, read on…
RED PANDAS
Red pandas have big heads and small snouts with triangular ears. Their coats are a copper coloured reddish – brown and their faces are mostly the same colour as their coat, except for white markings extending from their eyes down to the corner of their mouths. These markings are called ‘tear tracks’ and they help keep the sun out of their eyes.
Red pandas are the only living members of their family, Ailuridae but some scientists say that they actually belong in the family that has weasels and skunks! Their name might trick you and make you think that their closest relative is the giant panda, but their closest relative could be, (like I said before), skunks, weasels, or maybe even raccoons!
Although omnivorous, red pandas are usually herbivores, eating things like bamboo shoots, bamboo leaves, and maybe occasionally some fruits. However, if food is scarce, they will eat insects, bird eggs and sometimes small lizards, too!
I find them to be among the cutest animals of all time!! I hope you liked this week’s blog post and I would love to see you again for next week’s animal! Thanks for reading.
Kreeti's Creatures 