Depict the inside of the ear. In each ear, add an inner outline using curved lines.
15 Fantastic Facts About Red Pandas
As a highly specialized species, red pandas have many unique traits that set them apart but they are also very important to global biodiversity. They have been identified as a flagship species and an indicator of ecological health of the Eastern Himalayan Broadleaf Forest Ecoregion — one of our planet’s biodiversity hotspots — that supports over 500 million people! Their conservation has landscape-level impacts, and like an umbrella, the entire ecoregion (its forests and wildlife) are protected when red pandas are conserved. Here are fifteen of our other favorite red panda facts!
In 1825, nearly 50 years before the giant panda was discovered, Frédéric Cuvier first described the red panda as the most beautiful animal he had ever seen. Georges-Frédéric Cuvier was a French zoologist and paleontologist who was the head keeper of the menagerie at the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris from 1804 to 1838 (the year he died). He was the younger brother of the “founding father of paleontology”, Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric. Georges-Frédéric’s work was also widely known and was mentioned in Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species and in Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick! Georges-Frédéric actually first described the western red panda (Ailurus fulgens fulgens). In 1897, F. W. Styan discovered another red panda subspecies and named it Ailurus fulgens styani, now refulgens. Now you can see why red pandas are the first panda — the original panda.
They Are Not Related to Giant Pandas
The red panda’s name might lead you to think that its closest relative is the giant panda, but studies show that they are most closely related to raccoons! Recent genetic research also associates them with the family Mustelidae, which includes weasels, otters, and wolverines.
Wild red panda photographed during ecotrip in Nepal. © RPN
A Red Panda’s Diet is 98% Bamboo
Red pandas have to eat 20 to 30 percent of their body weight in bamboo — can eat up to 20,000 leaves! — each day. Bamboo doesn’t offer much nutrition and they can only digest about 24 percent of it. So why do red pandas eat it? Well, bamboo can grow rapidly and abundantly in the cloud forests where red pandas live. And because it is such a low-calorie option, there isn’t much competition for bamboo among local wildlife, so it can be a plentiful food source! While bamboo makes up most of a red panda’s diet, they will also occasionally eat eggs, insects, flowers, birds and small mammals when available.
Other than the first panda and original panda, red pandas are known by many names including firefox, red bear-cat, red cat-bear, and the lesser panda.
How to Draw a Panda Face
I am glad that you are interested in drawing animals, and now I bring to your attention a simple instruction with which you will learn how to draw a panda face. Panda is one of the cutest and funniest creatures on our planet. Panda has the appearance of a large bear with an unusual fur color.
The panda is a calm and slow animal that deftly climbs trees and swims well. Watching pandas is great fun. Pandas have an easily recognizable, unusual black and white color. An interesting fact is that panda babies are born completely white and after a week some parts of the body become dark. Pandas spend most of their time on tree branches. The panda’s favorite food is young bamboo shoots.
I hope you enjoyed learning a few facts about these cute animals and are ready to start the lesson. In this drawing, the panda’s face looks very cute. You can easily draw this animal if you follow all the steps in this instruction consistently and carefully. Carefully draw all the lines that are marked in red and use small tips.
- Pencil
- Paper
- Eraser
- Coloring supplies
Time needed: 30 minutes
How to Draw a Panda Face
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Draw the outline of the head. At this stage, draw a circle with a flatter bottom.
Depict the eyes. Approximately in the middle of the head, draw two ovals, while maintaining symmetry.
Sketch out the nose. A little lower, draw the small nose of a triangular shape.
Draw the mouth. From the bottom of the nose, draw semicircular lines to the sides.
Detail the color. Draw large ovals around the eyes.
Add the outer part of the ear. On the top of the head, depict two small ears using the main curved lines.
Depict the inside of the ear. In each ear, add an inner outline using curved lines.
Color the drawing. For coloring, use pink, dark gray and black. Add the highlights to the eyes.
Especially for your convenience, I have previously created a PDF file, which contains a brief instruction and additional useful materials. Download the file right now to always have access to the lesson, regardless of the presence of an Internet connection.
