The red, or lesser, panda is much smaller than the better-known giant panda. It also doesn't even look like a smaller version of the more famous black-and-white bamboo bear.
While estimates of red panda numbers vary widely, there may be fewer than 2,500 adult red pandas alive today. Some scientists fear that the red panda is even more endangered than the giant panda in China. Red pandas are prey to hunters who sell their rich, soft pelts. The fur is used to make hats and clothing by some of local peoples. Snow leopards are the main natural predator of adults.
In recent years the red panda's habitat has been disturbed profoundly by increasing human populations. People log the forests for building materials and fuel, and their domestic animals consume understory plants and compact fragile montane soils. Even minor disturbance in this fragile habitat, such as clearing small patches for agriculture, can initiate a devastating chain reaction of erosion and soil damage.
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