Red pandas are adorable and while they have forever lived in the shadows of the other more popular kids of the panda school, here are some furry facts about them.
One that you already know about red pandas is that they are these cute little furry beings that are super adorable. However, they are not usually animals that are to be domesticated and therefore not many people can have them as pets. Red pandas are usually found in the Himalayan region and even though you will not find them as pets in most households, some people choose to pet them in Nepal and India. You may have seen the adorable and playful antics of these small little pandas all over the internet but you probably don’t know many facts about them. Here are a few facts about red pandas that you probably didn’t know.
They Are Vegetarians
A red panda is inherently a carnivore and by carnivores we don’t mean animals that eat flesh. Carnivores are a biological order including animal groups like bears, dogs, cats and so on. A red panda fall under the bear group and is a carnivore but is a vegetarian. Their favorite foods are bamboo leaves and some small insects. Contrary to giant pandas that eat the entire bamboo plant, the red pandas eat only the young bamboo leaves. As a result, they need to eat for 13 hours a day in order to compensate for the low nutritious food that they consume.
They Have A Sweet Tooth
Red pandas are suckers for artificial sweeteners. A 2009 study had shown that when red pandas were presented with three bowls of water with one containing plain water, one with naturally sweetened water and the other containing artificially sweetened water, the red pandas preferred having the bowl of water that was artificially sweetened. So, the next time if you meet a red panda, offer them your sweet drink and they will gladly have it!
They Are Great At Blending In
The red pandas would have made the best spies had they been human beings. They are great escape artists and on many occasions have fled zoos without even anyone noticing it. Their beautiful reddish orange fur is not exactly the best option for camouflage. However, these clever little beings are super sharp when it comes to hiding out from their predators. Cute and sharp –the whole package!
