See Red Pandas in Madison Wisconsin

If you want to see a red panda up close, you can find one right here in Madison! The Henry Vilas Zoo has an exhibit featuring two red pandas, Tai and Tarrei. You can visit them when the zoo is open. The zoo has partnered with the Red Panda Network to help preserve this beautiful and important species. Every September, the zoo celebrates International Red Panda Day to raise awareness for red panda conservation.

Henry Vilas Zookeeper, Tara Lee, talked about red panda conservation in a recent interview with Channel 3000. Lee said that “one of the largest threats to red pandas currently is the illegal pet trade because everyone thinks they’re amazingly cute, which they are, but they do not make good pets.”

[Sources: Channel3000.com; Henryvilaszoo.com]

Scientists Say Red Pandas Are Not Actually Pandas (But they Are Still Cute)


People may not know much about red pandas, but something many can agree on is that these animals are cute!

Actually, red pandas are not really pandas at all. In fact, they are not even closely related to pandas, however it took scientists 10 to 15 years to determine this fact. Initially, scientists assigned them to the taxonomic "infraorder" Arctoidea , which includes bears and raccoons. But research done in 2000 showed that red pandas are not closely related to bears or raccoons as had been thought, but have their own phylogenetic family.

One thing that red pandas share with giant pandas, however, is a similar habitat. The red panda’s fur is reddish-orange which is very good for camouflage to hide from predators. The color of their fur helps them vanish into the branches of fir trees because the tree is covered with reddish-brown moss.

Although red pandas are classified as carnivores, they are mostly herbivores, a characteristic that they share with giant pandas. They eat bamboo leaves and shoots, occasional fruit and flowers, but sometimes they also eat eggs and birds. Oddly, red pandas like fake sugar, but only three specific artificial sugars: sucralose, aspartame, neotame. They are the only known nonprimate species to be able to taste aspartame previously thought to be a trait exclusive to old world monkeys, apes, and humans.

[Source: Scientific American ]


Wow, I had no idea that Red Pandas aren’t even part of the panda family and have their own phylogenetic family. Great article, Camila! – Leilani , Madison West High School (2020-07-09 17:40)
Wow, this is really good work. Nice Job Camila!! – Shoko Miyagi , UW-Madison (2020-07-10 09:45)
I love Red Pandas! They're such unique animals. Great writing! – Kadjata , Madison East High School (2020-07-10 10:43)
I really enjoyed this article. What a cool animal. – Ashley , Verona HS (2020-07-12 11:04)
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