Red pandas are the embodiment of cuteness. We can't help but turn to mush when looking at their sweet photos online. I mean, honestly, who in the world can resist that adorable face?! If there's another out there who can, we certainly don't care to be associated with that person.
Fun fact! Did you know that Mozilla's flagship browser, 'Firefox', means red panda? Mozilla originally wanted to name the browser "Firebird", but as they found out, another open source project was using that name. Not wanting to get into a mess over the name, they decided to go with 'Firefox', another name for the red panda.
And in a true example of adorableness, in 2010, Mozilla adopted two baby red pandas that had been born at Tennessee's Knoxville Zoo.
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Red pandas a playful creatures, much smaller than giant pandas, and are the only living member of their taxonomic family.
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Red pandas are generally quiet, but subtle vocalizations—such as squeals, twitters and huff-quacks—can be heard at close proximity. They may also hiss or grunt, and young cubs use a whistle, or high-pitched bleat, to signal distress.
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Did you know that red pandas share the giant panda's pseudo-thumb? A modified wrist bone used to grasp bamboo when feeding.
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Red pandas have a dense wooly undercoat covered by long, coarse hairs which help protect them from harsh winds and the cold. And with their long, bushy tails to help them maintain balance.
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Interestingly enough, red pandas only spend about 45% of their day awake. They also tend to be way more active in cooler weather, especially during the winter mating sason.
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And unlike the giant panda who consume nearly every above-ground portion of bamboo, red panda's feed selectively on the most nutritious leaf tips and, when available, tender shoots.
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Red pandas are solitary animals by nature. In human care, most breeding pairs live together year-round. In the wild, the home range of one animal is about 1 square mile.
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Red pandas are endangered and are legally protected in India, Bhutan, China, Nepal and Myanmar. Their primary threats are habitat loss and degradation, human interference and poaching.
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Red pandas are born completely covered in fur to protect them from the cold environment. Newborns weigh 3 to 4 ounces (about 90 to 110 grams). The offspring stay with the mother for about one year, which is about when they are full-grown.
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Oh, and did we mention just how insanely adorable they are?
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Ameatball
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