When I first heard about the red panda, I thought it was a cub of a giant panda, or a relative of a giant panda.
Cocoa** red panda.
Is there really any relationship between giant pandas and red pandas? But in fact,The genes of the two of them have been differentiated since more than 47 million years ago, so they are not the same in terms of family and genus.
We know that the giant panda is regarded as a national treasure of our country and is widely loved and protected by people, but the equally cute red panda has a very different treatment.
Giant pandas living in the conservation base.
How many red pandas are there now? What have they all been through?
How cute are red pandas? How are they doing now?
Next, let's take a look at why the giant panda is safe, but the red panda is about to be goneIs cuteness also a "sin"?
Red pandas are mainly found in Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar and Nepal, and they mostly live in temperate climates in deciduous and coniferous forests at 2500-4800 meters, soIn China, it is generally distributed in **, Yunnan and Sichuan
Range of red pandas.
About 50 percent of them are found in the Himalayas and about 38 percent in Nepal.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) published a report in 2015 announcing that the red panda's endangerment status had been changed from "vulnerable"."Endangered".
The following year, the panda's endangerment rating was lowered from "endangered" to "vulnerable".
It can be seen from thisThe giant pandas are already safe under our protection, and their numbers have grown to a certain extent.
As of 2021, there are 673 giant pandas in captivity worldwide, and the number of giant pandas in the wild has grown to 1,864.
But at the same time, the number of red pandas is decreasing.
According to statistics, the number of red pandas in the world has declined by 50% in the past 20 years, and now the number of red pandas isLess than 10,000.
The number of red pandas is decreasing.
Red pandas were first spotted in 1825, before the giant panda was discovered, so there are some hiccups about their names.
Red panda name**
When French zoologists first saw this animal, with a brownish-red cat and a black belly, and a big furry tail, it was really cute.
Therefore, zoologists at that time also called it"The most handsome living mammal in the world"., and also named it "panda".
That's right, it's the "panda" that everyone thinks, so the name panda was originally given to the red panda.
The red panda was tragically "robbed of fame".
Decades later, after zoologists discovered the giant panda, they gradually gave the name "panda" to the giant panda and called the red panda "redpanda" or "lesserpanda".
Since then, both pandas have actually experienced the same thing, and both of them have very cute appearances, so many hunters will inevitably attack them.
Red panda habitat has been severely damaged
In the last century, China's economy was in a stage of rapid development, especially in order to promote the development of the southwest region, people began to make extensive use of the resources of the southwest and build new roads.
Red pandas are gradually losing their homes.
The southwest region has a large number of forest resources, so a large number of trees were cut down at that time, causing serious damage to the forest, and most of the red pandas inhabit here.
For example, in our country, in order to willSichuan-Tibet Highway and Sichuan-Yunnan HighwayThrough the route, a large number of forests along the route have been cut down, resulting in the mountain range of China's Qiongxia Mountain System and adjacent mountain systems being forcibly divided into two halves.
Since then, in order to survive, the red panda has to continue to narrow its range in the western mountains and valleys.
But in fact, habitat loss brings lethality to red pandasFar less terrifying than direct hunting.
Red pandas were brutally murdered by humans
Red pandas were discovered much earlier than giant pandas, when people were less aware of animal conservation, and there were more pandas in large numbers than giant pandas, and they were easier to catch.
Red pandas are easier to catch.
As a result, many poachers began to launch a fierce offensive against the red pandas, bringing all these walking stuffed animals home.
The fur and tail of red pandas are especially loved, and many people will kill and skin them to make clothes
In the city of Darjeeling, India,The red panda is the mascot of the local international tea festival, but at the same time, the fur of the red panda is also called the groom's clothes.
They even made hats out of red panda fur and dusters from their tails.
How can a tail be made into a duster if it is so cute.
However, many people caught red pandasThey are not killed directly, but are kept in captivity
Due to the long reproductive cycle of red pandas and the low reproductive rate, the mortality rate of baby red pandas is high.
Most of the red pandas in captivity are still chained, which restricts their movement and shortens their survival time.
The red panda population has plummeted after a century of hunting, but not every country has listed the red panda as a protected animal.
In the case of China, the red panda was listed only after it was listed as endangeredNational second-class protected animals
National second-class protected animal, red panda.
In the face of so many wild animals in the forest, why is the red panda so miserable?
If you investigate the reason, many people may answerThey're really cute
According to the 2013 CNN selection of the world's cutest species, the red panda did not make it into the top 10, but could only settle for 13th.
But after seeing this result, many people have expressed their dissatisfaction, in their opinionThe red panda is the world's number one cucumber
The red panda has a cute appearance
When we see a red panda, it's easy to confuse it with a raccoon, but we can tell the difference based on their coat color.
It's easy to tell the difference between raccoons and red pandas.
The red panda's coat color is more skewed towards that of a red fox, and this brighter color makes it look more lively than a raccoon.
And its big fluffy tail is more like a fox, I have to say that this red panda really looks a little similar to Disney actress "Lena Belle".
The red panda's behavior is also very cute
Red pandas are more cute than just their appearanceIts habits and activities are also very cute.
I don't know if you have noticed that red pandas especially like to do a "raise your hand and surrender" actionThis is actually what they do when they are in danger or frightened.
Don't do it, I surrender".
It looks like saying, "I can't beat you, but for the sake of my cuteness, can you let me go?" ”
Of course, there is also the possibility that they think that this action will make them appear taller, so that they may be able to "deter" the enemy on the other side.
But anyway, when they make this move, they really want to cute people.
In addition, many people see that red pandas also like to stick out their tongues, and this action, coupled with their cute faces, really makes people shout "such a cute little guy, I really want to take it home".
The smell of the air seems to be pretty good.
But actually,They don't mean to be cute, they're just tasting the air
In addition, red pandas, like their big brothers (giant pandas), like to eat bamboo and climb trees.
But they generally like to sleep during the day and eat at night, so many times we see them hanging on trees to "rot", but even if they love to stay up late, they do not grow two big black circles like giant pandas.
Lovely sleeping position.
And the cutest thing is that the red panda is also a loyal sweet toothAmong the fruits, their favorite is apples
However, according to research, red pandas seem to prefer artificial candy to honey, and in the animal kingdom, except for primates, they are the only ones who eat aspartame.
It has to be said that the red panda has successfully captured the hearts of many people by itself, which has also increased people's protection to a certain extent.
Apples are the red panda's favorite.
And now people's awareness of the protection of wild animals is gradually strengthened, and they love such cute animals.
Although we know that red pandas were hunted in large quantities because they were so cute, cuteness is not their "sin", but only because of human greed.
Fortunately, more people are now paying attention to red pandas and taking a lot of measures to protect them.
A red panda that loves to play in the snow.
In Nepal, for example, killing, buying, or ** red pandas is considered a crime and faces a fine of up to $1,000 or up to 10 years in prison.
In addition, in order to better continue the red panda population, we have successfully artificially bred red pandas.
In 2021, the number of red pandas in the Chengdu Giant Panda Breeding Research Base has reached 163, making it the world's largest captive red panda population, and the future is promising.