Toby the Red Panda Explores His New Home

The Worlds Cutest Animal makes his long awaited debut at the Houston Zoo. He's Toby, the red panda. For more info, visit http://www.houstonzoo.org/cutestanimal/

Red pandas have undergone an identity crisis of sorts, existing in the shadow of the better known giant panda. Red pandas are exquisite and fascinating mammals with their own unique set of behaviors and characteristics. Best known for their striking red coats and white to reddish-brown facial mask, red pandas are superb climbers.

Red pandas live only in temperate forests in the Himalayan foothills from western Nepal through northern Burma (Myanmar) and in the mountains of southwestern China at altitudes between 5,000 and 13,000 feet. Temperatures remain fairly cool and constant in their native habitat, supporting the mix of forests trees and bamboo on which red pandas depend. Red pandas live solitary lives, only coming together to reproduce during the very brief breeding season.

The red pandas diet is very unusual among mammals. Only the red panda, giant panda, two types of rodents, and one species of lemur from Madagascar can survive on a strict bamboo diet. The red pandas adaptation to a bamboo diet has helped shape their behavior, spending up to half the day in search of tender new bamboo leaves.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• Toby
• red
• panda
• cutest
• animal
• in
• the
• world
• Houston
• Zoo
• cute
• furry
• mammal

[houstonzoo]

The great thing about going to visit this guy at the zoo is that you can usually see him! Most of the time, he is sleeping in one of the two front corners of his enclosure.

[SpavVy1993]

Looks like a fox had a baby with a racoon. But it's adorable!

[ilovecrayons123]

its a foxcoon

[darknessrising123]

aaaaawwwww

[Sol0tone]

How have they come to be red and much more agile than white and black pandas?

[Bf2FlyBoy]

I wanna cuddle him!!!!

[ReaquaintedHorror]

@TheAlienFan

They are related to racoons i think. Either that or a fox.

[TheAlienFan]

I never knew there was such a thing as a red panda.He kinda looks a bit like a racoon. Beautiful animal

[WannabeDetectiveAlex]

@trekky800 Yes, but for the ones that ARE endangered, it's one of the only things keeping them alive. I never said humans didn't use animals for entertainment and if I somehow did I must have been too tired to see it.

[trekky800]

@WannabeDetectiveAlex Yes but the majority of zoo animals are not endangered, they are there solely for human enjoyment.

[WannabeDetectiveAlex]

@trekky800 I hope you're not being facetious. Captivity is the thing that keeps many species alive until they can be released into the wild again.