There is a picture of a strange looking animal on a poster at our library. It is red and has red stripes on its face and looks very much like a red fox, but I’m sure its not. I think its a panda, while alot of other people say that it is a fox. Can anyone find a website with information on this animal?
Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks
I haven’t found a web site, but my American Heritage dictionary has two entries for panda - the Giant panda (the adorable bear-like panda with which we’re most familiar), and “a small, racoon-like mammal (Ailurus fulgens) of northeast Asia, having reddish fur, white face markings, and a long ringed tail. Also called lesser panda and red panda.”
IIRC, the word “panda,” which is from (some Asian language that I do not recall) is just a native word for “beast” or “animal,” and does not give any taxonomic designation.
Hence, you have two not-so-closely related critters: giant panda, probably a member of the bear family, and the red panda, possibly related to your basic 'coon.
er, no.
the giant panda is a closer relation to raccoons than it is to bears.
hmmm… seems to be a bit of a controversy.
the first link is a site about bears, so i can see why they’d claim the panda is a bear. i
the second site seems to be the web authority on giant pandas.