Red pandas spend most of their time up in trees, where their curved claws grip branches tightly and their thick fur keeps them warm in the cool mountain air. They are most active at dawn and dusk, and spend a large part of each day resting in the fork of a branch with their tail wrapped around themselves like a fluffy scarf. When they walk on the ground, they move in a rolling, bear-like waddle.
Bamboo shoots and leaves make up most of the red panda's diet, though they also eat berries, flowers, and sometimes eggs. Like the giant panda, the red panda has a special 'false thumb' — a modified wrist bone that acts like an extra finger, helping them grip bamboo stalks. Despite eating mainly bamboo, red pandas are actually classified by scientists as carnivores, meaning their bodies are built for eating meat — they just prefer bamboo.
Red pandas live in the temperate forests of Bhutan, Nepal, northern India, and parts of China. Their numbers in the wild are quite small — probably only a few thousand — and Bhutan's protected forest areas are a vital refuge for them. Local people in Bhutan know the red panda by the name 'wah' because of the short cry it makes when alarmed.