Expedition 🇨🇳 China
Red Panda in China
The firefox of the Himalaya — a russet tree-dweller with a ringed tail that is neither bear nor raccoon, but its own ancient family.
The species
The red panda is a small arboreal mammal of montane bamboo forest, with chestnut fur, white face markings, and a long banded tail it uses for balance in the canopy. Once thought related to raccoons, DNA showed it belongs to its own unique family — Ailuridae — with no close living relatives.
Habitat in China
Cool, moist bamboo forest at elevations between 2,200 and 4,800 metres in the eastern Himalaya and southwestern China. They need dense canopy cover and bamboo understory, and are threatened by deforestation and habitat fragmentation.
Where to spot one
Chengdu Panda Base
Sichuan
The world's best-known panda research and breeding centre — bamboo groves full of black-and-white bears.
Wolong National Nature Reserve
Sichuan
Mountain bamboo forest in the Minshan range — one of the first and most important wild panda reserves.
Foping National Nature Reserve
Shaanxi
Qinling Mountains forest — giant pandas and golden snub-nosed monkeys in temperate bamboo habitat.
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
Hunan
Towering sandstone pillars draped in mist — home to macaques, civets, and rare forest birds.
Conservation status
Red pandas are Endangered, with fewer than 10,000 adults remaining in the wild. Habitat loss and poaching for the pet trade are the main threats across their Himalayan range.
Keep exploring
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