Red Panda
Something about this photograph reminds me of a cat stuck up a tree. And I never knew that Red Pandas have a white spot under their chin, or at least this one does. Usually they are keeping a wary eye on you so you don't get to see under their chins. This was taken in the wild on my recent trip to Sichuan. Red Pandas are typically difficult to see as they are not only rare and range restricted, but they also spend most of their time hiding in bamboo thickets. But in the autumn they are tempted away from their diet of bamboo by juicy berries, in this case Pratt's Crabapple (Malus prattii). But once the berries have gone, back they go into the bamboo thickets where they remain hidden until next autumn. There are two disjunct populations of Red Panda. The nominate race is found in Nepal, Assam, Sikkim and Bhutan, and the darker race styani is found in China and the far north of Burma. The scientific name is Ailurus fulgens: Ailouros is an Ancient Greek word for cat, and fulgens means bright or shining. The subspecies name Styani commemorates Frederick William Styan (1838-1934) who was a Tea-trader and collector who lived n China for 27 years. But it was named by the British Mammalogist F.R.O. Thomas (1858-1929) who worked at the Natural History Museum in London and described more than 2000 small mammals new to science. And who had Thomas's Pika named in his honour. (see here www.flickr.com/photos/timmelling/49206948758/in/dateposted/ )
Red Panda
Something about this photograph reminds me of a cat stuck up a tree. And I never knew that Red Pandas have a white spot under their chin, or at least this one does. Usually they are keeping a wary eye on you so you don't get to see under their chins. This was taken in the wild on my recent trip to Sichuan. Red Pandas are typically difficult to see as they are not only rare and range restricted, but they also spend most of their time hiding in bamboo thickets. But in the autumn they are tempted away from their diet of bamboo by juicy berries, in this case Pratt's Crabapple (Malus prattii). But once the berries have gone, back they go into the bamboo thickets where they remain hidden until next autumn. There are two disjunct populations of Red Panda. The nominate race is found in Nepal, Assam, Sikkim and Bhutan, and the darker race styani is found in China and the far north of Burma. The scientific name is Ailurus fulgens: Ailouros is an Ancient Greek word for cat, and fulgens means bright or shining. The subspecies name Styani commemorates Frederick William Styan (1838-1934) who was a Tea-trader and collector who lived n China for 27 years. But it was named by the British Mammalogist F.R.O. Thomas (1858-1929) who worked at the Natural History Museum in London and described more than 2000 small mammals new to science. And who had Thomas's Pika named in his honour. (see here www.flickr.com/photos/timmelling/49206948758/in/dateposted/ )