Red Pandas Are More Than Just Cute

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Red pandas are more than just some cute animal associated with giant pandas even though they are unrelated. There are some interesting things about the red pandas.  Even though they are no way related to the giant panda, they have strikingly similar behavior.  Red pandas have some unique mating habits. They also have some sort of sweet tooth, though artificial.

With the name red panda, it is expected that they would have some sort of relation to a giant panda, though not related to each other, their manners and habits are similar. The red pandas prefer a diet consisting of the leaves and tender shoots of bamboo, and it just so happens that the giant pandas prefer it this way too. Both animals also seem to have a digit like a thumb on their wrists that allows them to hold the bamboo for them to eat. The red pandas like to live in the cool mountainous forests, around the same areas that the red panda. It is believed that these animals act so similar because of the fact that they live so close to each other.

Like all other mammals, the red pandas do find mates to reproduce. But other than for mating, red pandas are a solitary and even shy animal. Female red pandas typically give birth to 1-4 cubs in the spring and summer months. When born, the red panda cubs only stay with their mother for about a year until the mother gives birth again, while the fathers have little or no interest in the cubs. Since they live to be about 10 years old, they reach sexual maturity by their second year and are able to start reproducing.

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The red pandas have one unique trait that isn’t very common in animals; they have some kind of sweet tooth, more specifically, a sweet tooth to artificial sweeteners. A study was conducted in a zoo setting where the preferences for six natural and six artificial sweeteners were tested. In the test, they were given access to both a sweet solution and water for 24 hours. Results showed that the animal preferred the sweet solution over the water. Further studies and tests showed that the red panda has a unique sweet receptor that is nothing like any from other examined species.

As previously shown, the red pandas have more to them than being some cute little animal. They have behavior similar to an animal that they have no relation to besides habitat. They do mate like all other animals but have their own unique differences. They also have a completely unheard of ability to taste artificial sweeteners, which other animals can’t! Sometimes you have to look past a seemingly boring outside to really find something unique and interesting, just like with the red pandas.

Here are some questions to think about-

  1. Do you think the “sweet tooth” could have been caused by some kind of mutation?
  2. Could there be more studdies done with the red panda so we know more about it?
  3. What other animals do the red pandas closely resemble or behave like?

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