Where do red pandas live?
There are two sub-species of red panda. Ailurus fulgens lives in the high-altitude (between 3,000 and 12,000 feet) bamboo forests of the Himalayan mountains. Its range extends through Nepal, northeastern India, Bhutan, southeastern Tibet, and Laos. Ailurus fulgens styani is slightly larger and is found in southwestern China in Sichaun and Yunnan provinces and in northern Burma (Myanmar). In these areas, the weather is cool and moist and there are a mixture of deciduous and evergreen trees (especially spruce and fir) at higher elevations and bamboo and rhododendrons at the lower levels. The average temperature is 10-25 degrees celsius, and the average annual rainfall is 350 centimeters. Part of the red panda’s range overlaps with that of the giant panda, so giant panda conservation programs provide some benefit to the red panda. They prefer an even colder climate than the giant panda. Find great red panda gifts like these in our Red Pandas section at the left! What do red pandas eat? In
Red Pandas are native to southeastern Asia, along a crescent formed by the Himalaya Mountains in Nepal, southern Tibet China, Bhutan, and northeast India, then east into the highlands of Myanmar (Burma), the Gongshan Mountains of Yunnan China, and the Hengduan Mountains of Sichuan China. The latter area is thought to have been a refuge for Red Pandas, as well as many other animals, during the last (Pleistocene) period of glaciation. The gorge of the Brahmaputra River, as it loops around the eastern end of the Himalayas, is considered a natural division between the two subspecies, although some suggest the A. f. fulgens range extends more eastwardly into Yunnan China. Red pandas used to have a broader distribution farther northeast into China and southwest into India.
