International Red Panda Day is celebrated on the third Saturday of every September to help raise awareness about a very special, endangered animal. This year, International Red Panda Day is on September 19, 2026. Let’s learn more about red pandas with five cool facts!
1. Red pandas are not closely related to giant pandas.
Although they’re both called pandas, red pandas are not a type of giant panda. The word “panda” is thought to come from the Nepali word, “ponya”, which means bamboo eater or bamboo-footed. And similar to giant pandas, red pandas mostly eat bamboo.
2. Red pandas have to eat a LOT of bamboo everyday.
A red panda must eat 1-2 kg (2-4 lb.) of bamboo per day in order to get enough nutrition. That’s a lot of leaves! In fact, a female red panda was once recorded as having eaten 20,000 bamboo leaves in one day!
3. Red pandas wrap themselves up in their bushy tails when they sleep.
To conserve energy, they can also go into a deep sleep called torpor. In torpor, their body temperature lowers and their respiration rate goes down.
4. Red pandas spend most of their time in trees.
Sharp, retractable claws allow red pandas to grip branches and climb down tree trunks head first. Long tails help them keep their balance.
5. When threatened, red pandas stare at their enemy, bob their heads, arch their tails and stand up on their hind legs.
They can also scratch and release a foul odor from scent glands at the base of their tail. Pee-yew!
Hope you enjoyed our roundup of fun red panda facts! Learn more cool red panda facts at our article, Red Panda.
