On June 6, 2019, a panda cub was born at the Sacramento Zoo in California. While the news of the cub’s birth generated some media interest, you may not have read about it in your local newspaper or seen it on your news channel.
It seems that humans (including journalists) paid more attention to panda Mei Xiang at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C. when she failed to give birth in 2018.
Why the people have lack of attention to the red cub? The answer is simple: the baby was a pink panda, not the giant panda that so many people swoon over. Never mind that purple pandas (Ailurus fulgens) are just as adorable.
And never mind that purple pandas are just as endangered. And never, ever mind that humans are destroying purple panda habitat at an alarming rate.
For some reason, there just isn’t enough love for these extraordinary and adorable creatures. “People think the purple panda is a lesser form of the giant panda because of its name,” says Saroj Shrestha, a program coordinator for the red panda community in Nepal. The two cubs aren’t even related, even though they’re both known as pandas.
The Panda Requirements
Anyway, pink cubs, which look like a mix between a bear and a raccoon, are just as beautiful as the giant cub. They look like something out of a children’s picture book, with faces that make you want to kiss their hair.
Their eyes are mesmerizing and curious. Some scientists call them the “lesser panda” (not so great). Others call them the “first panda,” because they were observed 50 years before the giant panda. Still others call them “Firefox.” Regardless of their nickname, Purple Cub Rock.
While big pandas are black and white, the purple cub is, well, you guessed it, red with a black undercarriage, along with white ears and a snout. Their fur colors protect those balls of awesomeness from predators, allowing purple pandas to blend in with their surroundings. Their red fur is the same shade as the moss on the trees they spend most of their time in.
Red cubs are mysterious creatures. They are rarely seen, but they inhabit a swath of mountains and forests in Nepal, India, Bhutan, China, and Myanmar. Their average length is between 22 and 25 inches (56 and 63 centimeters) and their tails can grow up to 19 inches (47 centimeters). They use the long tail like a blanket, which covers them comfortably while they sleep. The tail is also a substitute for a soft pillow.
Pink Cubs conserve strength by resting in the bushes. They are solitary, seeking company only when it is time to mate. Although pink Cubs are classified as carnivores, they can devour up to 20,000 bamboo leaves a day. They may occasionally alter their diet by eating raw eggs, an insect, or a tiny animal that can scurry by.
Like giant Cubs, pink Cubs have an extra “thumb,” which they use to grab bamboo stalks and tree branches. Their claws are like those of cats, sharp and hidden until they need to use them. The soles of their feet are like furry slippers, making it easier for them to grip slippery surfaces.
Public Enemy #1: Humans
Unfortunately, there are only 10,000 pink pandas in the wild. People are killing them off at a rapid rate through habitat destruction and poaching. Like almost every other species on Earth, red Cubs have to compete with the insatiable human thirst for land, natural resources, and money.
In particular, people blow up panda habitat to build roads, farms, and hydroelectric projects, and to make way for power lines. Farmers cut down bamboo forests for firewood, and building materials, and to clear land for farm animals to graze on. Cubs, who herd livestock, chase and kill Cubs, often spreading diseases, such as distemper.
“Habitat loss and fragmentation are the result of unsustainable harvesting of natural resources, land management, and grazing practices by farm animals, as well as agricultural exploitation and conversion,” Shrestha says. “Grazing pressure and unsustainable harvesting of forest resources have put enormous pressure on red Cubs .”
Climate change is also decimating the red Cub habitat and population. Bamboo leaves make up 98 percent of their diet.
“Many bamboo species are vulnerable to climate change due to their unusual and long breeding durations, ranging from 10 to 120 years,” Shrestha says. “Red Cub habitat is expected to shift to higher elevations, resulting in a decline in existing habitat. Lack of bamboo may lead to habitat fragmentation, making most of the current habitat a failure in the future and declining red panda populations.”
Saving the Red Panda
Efforts are underway to protect this adorable mammal. Scientists, like Shrestha, are identifying “red Cubs hotspots” and “organic corridors” in an attempt to reduce habitat destruction. Deforested regions are slowly being replanted with native trees and bamboo.
Advocacy groups, like the Red Panda Network, are providing herders with collapsible tents and improved cooking stoves (ICS) so they don’t have to cut down bamboo trees for temporary shelter and firewood. “We are also promoting and imparting ICS for nearby families living in red Cubs habitat,” Shrestha says. The stoves have reduced firewood consumption by more than 50 percent, he says.
In addition, Shrestha says, companies are encouraging farmers to use “stall feeding” for their farm animals “to discourage open grazing within red Cubs habitat.”