International Red Panda Day
The Red Panda Network launched International Red Panda Day in 2010. Since then, the third Saturday in September every year is celebrated as Red Panda Day.
They were discovered in 1825, 50 years before the giant panda. Other names for the red panda include bear-cat, firefox, and the Himalayan raccoon (though they are not relatives). Red pandas are the only living member of their taxonomic family.
Red pandas eat mostly bamboo, they eat about 20000 leaves each day. They have gotten their name from the Nepali word "Ponya" which means bamboo or plant-eating animal.
Red pandas weigh between 12 to 20 pounds, which is about the size of a housecat. These adorable mammals are very skillful and acrobatic animals and they predominantly stay in the trees of the Himalaya Mountains. The Red panda’s popularity in Asia features them in cartoons and as team mascots. However, only about 10,000 red pandas live in the wild. Because of deforestation, poaching, and the illegal pet trade, red pandas are endangered.
We all can save them, by preserving their habitat and adopting them, actually not literally, If we pay some money to the zoo or nature reserve, they will use that for their upkeeping, food, and other purposes. I learned that RedPandaNetwork.org is one such network.
For our next family occasion, birthdays, etc. why don't we adopt one animal.
The below Red Panda stamp was issued by India post in 2009.
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