Rumor: Red pandas are raccoons and are closely related to giant pandas
Truth: Red pandas are not raccoons, and their relationship with giant pandas is very weak
Figureworm creative
Speaking of the word "panda", most people must have in their minds the "rolling" with black circles and bamboo shoots - our national treasure giant panda. But many people do not know, in fact, the name panda (panda), originally belonged to another animal, it is a smaller body, the coat color is mainly brown and red "red panda".
It doesn't matter if the name that belongs to it is "seconded" to other animals, many people often confuse it with the raccoon, even the role of Master Abao in the movie "Kung Fu Panda", the original setting is also a red panda, but inexplicably painted as "Raccoon Master"... If these false names are insignificant, then they are endangered and really need more attention and protection from human friends.
The third Saturday of September is designated as "International RED PANDA DAY", so let's take a look at this cute and beautiful little cute today!
The name "Panda Panda" originally belonged to it
Our motherland is a vast territory of more than 9.6 million square kilometers, spanning 5 time zones from east to west and 3 temperate zones from north to south, which is not only our homeland, but also home to many wild animals. Among the tens of thousands of wild animals living in China, many of them are unique to our country, but the only thing that can be called a "national treasure" is the black and white, cute, cute panda that follows the world to "roll".
But did you know that the official name of the panda we are talking about should be "giant panda" Chinese. Yes, the reason why we want to emphasize this "big" is because there is another animal called "red panda". Red pandas are not only neighbors of giant pandas, but about 200 years ago, the word "panda" referred to today's "red pandas". So why did the good pandas become small characters? This story also begins with the grandfathers of several naturalists...
The person who named the red panda "Panda" was the famous zoologist Fledlik Cuvier, who first described and named the "panda" (what we call the red panda today) in 1825 and called it "the most beautiful animal he has ever seen". There is also a small episode here: in fact, the first person to discover the red panda was an officer, who discovered this animal with a long tail, orange fur and never seen before in 1821, but the old man never published a paper, which was tantamount to giving up the title of red panda discoverer to Cuvier. In short, the word "panda", that is, panda, refers to the red panda until more than 40 years later.
In the 1860s, while Collecting Rare Animals in China, Father David discovered a "black and white bear" in Sichuan Province, which he recorded in his notes that the locals called the animal "White Bear." Later, the specimen was sent back to France, and Professor Edwards, then director of the Natural History Museum in Paris, believed that this "black and white bear" coincided with the habitat of the panda (that is, the red panda) found before, and the same food habits ate bamboo, and the forelimbs had 6 fingers, and the structure of the "pseudo-thumb" was an extension of the wrist bone, which was formed to facilitate the grasping of bamboo... Therefore, it is believed that they should be related, and the newly discovered black and white bear is also a kind of panda. In order to distinguish between this two kinds of pandas, one big and one small, there are "giant pandas" and "red pandas". Later, due to the growing fame of giant pandas, as long as people talk about pandas, people's first impression is the cute "black and white bear", and the real panda is a cat, but people are gradually snubbed.
So, are red pandas and giant pandas related to each other? They both only eat bamboo, in the evolution of the formation of some similar habits, the body structure also has some similarities, if the blood, they both belong to the carnivorous order members, perhaps can only be regarded as "eight rods may be able to fight a bit" distant relatives!
Crisp noodles, small tanuki cats and red pandas, silly and indistinguishable
In the childhood of the majority of post-80s, there was a small snack that was all the rage - "little raccoon crisp noodles"! The outer packaging of the food is printed with a chubby, long tail and small flower face of a small animal, because of the age of small literacy, including me, many friends have called it "little finish bear", resulting in later even if I know the correct pronunciation (huan four sounds) or difficult to change it. For a long time, this small food has dominated the sales championship of various small and small shops, and this generation has also crowned the raccoon with the elegant name of "simply face king".
Raccoon Figureworm Creative
Perhaps because of the popularity, or because of the slight resemblance, there are always people who confuse this "crisp face king" with the red panda. The most famous oolong case is the movie "Kung Fu Panda" mentioned at the beginning of the article, the protagonist Panda Ah Bao's master, the head of the Emerald Palace, known as "Raccoon Master", but in fact, the official introduction clearly states: The prototype is a red panda.
The raccoon is an animal living in the Americas, omnivorous, good at climbing trees, quite high IQ, often wandering in the city to rummage through garbage cans, steal cat food, is really a troublemaker, by many North Americans as a thorn in the eye. Raccoons have a special habit, that is, when they find food, they like to use their front paws to grab and put it into the water to "rub", from a human point of view, it seems to be "washing" food, hence the name "raccoon". The cute rocket raccoon in "Guardians of the Galaxy" is the raccoon's own bear.
Therefore, whether it is to protect the good memories of childhood or out of respect for the red panda, don't call the red panda "simply face the king" in the future!
However, the confession of error is not over! In recent years, another little brother has joined this "who is the crisp noodles" big melee, which is the raccoon. Hearing this name, many people may be confused: "What is this thing?" "But if you change the word, Tanuki, many people may be a little impressed."
The term fox originally referred to two animals, "fox" and "fox", the latter referring to the raccoon. In some East Asian folklore, it is believed that raccoons, like foxes, can cultivate into essences, and even become messengers of gods, and will use spells to tease people on the night of the full moon. In the human impression, the fox is more feminine and treacherous, while the tanuki is more cute, and although the fox can use spells in the legend, it often lifts a stone to drop on its own feet, and the final ending makes people cry and laugh. The shape of the raccoon is chubby, the face shape and form are somewhat similar to raccoons and red pandas, and the most important thing is that it also has a "small flower face", so it is no wonder that many people have confused them.
Raccoon Image from Zoology
So how to distinguish these three children?
The body hair of the red panda is generally more bright fiery red or bright orange, and the hair on the abdomen is dark, no wonder in English it is called "red panda (red panda)", and there is a name called "Fire Fox" (literally translated as "fire fox"). Their faces are relatively rounded, the pattern on the face is light white, and most of the patterns are not continuous, they are independent, and there are 5-6 light-colored rings on the tail. The red pandas have "six fingers" in their palms and are good at grasping, so that they can hold bamboo and eat.
The coat color of the raccoon is gray or dark gray, the face is relatively pointed, and the pattern of the face resembles a black mask with a nose-piercing mask and a black mask of Zorro, which extends all the way to the cheeks. The rings on the tail usually exceed 10, and the five fingers of the front paws are separated and can be grasped, more like a human hand.
The raccoon 's coat is brownish grey with black stripes , black limbs , and a face that resembles a raccoon and is also pointed. The raccoon's English name is "raccoon dog", and there is a black pattern around the eyes, but there are no rings on the raccoon's tail. Moreover, the front paws of the raccoon are not separated, look very similar to the paws of the puppy, and cannot be grasped, through these two points can well distinguish raccoons and raccoons.
All three animals belong to the carnivorous order, but in terms of kinship, red pandas and raccoons are closer. Not long ago, red pandas still belonged to the raccoon family, but later after research, it was found that their differences were still very large, and the red pandas were independently divided into a single family, that is, the red panda family. The raccoon belongs to the canine family, and the raccoon looks like a fat dog.
Neglected red pandas, the survival status quo is worrying
Recent studies have found that red pandas are not one species, but actually two species: Chinese red pandas and Himalayan red pandas. 250,000 years ago, due to geographical barriers, the two species parted ways on the road of evolution and began to evolve independently.
Due to the growth of population, the development of cities, the increase of arable land, hunting and many other human activities, the habitat of red pandas has been seriously affected and extremely shrinking, which has caused a serious decline in the population of red pandas. At the same time, red pandas are very susceptible to canine distemper, and the mortality rate after infection is extremely high, if the number of stray dogs in an area increases significantly, the impact on the red pandas in the same area is very large.
According to statistics, in the past 20 years, the number of red pandas in the world has plummeted by 50%! At present, the total number of wild populations of the two species of red pandas in China is about 3,000, while the total population of himalayan red pandas may be less than 500. Compared with the giant pandas that are loved by thousands of people, the living conditions of the red pandas are very worrying and are on the verge of extinction: in 2015, the IUCN announced that the endangered level of the red pandas was adjusted from "vulnerable" to "endangered".
How should we protect this lovely and beautiful creature? In addition to refusing to buy or sell any goods made from their fur, it is also important not to raise them privately!
First of all, the red panda itself is not suitable for raising as a pet: although it is mainly eaten by bamboo, they are real carnivores, and it is easy to bite through the thighs of the waste wood blue star bipedals; as wild animals, the red pandas have a very strong body odor, which is unbearable when raised indoors; and don't look at a cute face, they are still wild in their bones, they can tear your sofa, mattress and other items, and will pull a room full of...
Of course, the more critical thing is that the red panda as a pet to raise, for them is not protection, but a kind of chronic killing: the wild red panda will climb a lot of trees every day, walk a long way to find food, the amount of exercise is very large, and locked in the cage will lead to serious lack of exercise, affecting its health; the main food of the red panda is bamboo, supplemented by some bird eggs, small animals, etc., it is difficult to raise at home to provide it with a large amount of this type of food, and feed them with cat food and dog food. Over time, they can get sick and die.
The most important point: red pandas are national second-level protected animals, and raising them at home is an act against the law, and once discovered, it will be punished by the law!
Love them, you can get to know them, pay attention to them, but please don't disturb their lives.