The red panda is a specialised bamboo feeder and has strong, curved and sharp semi-retractile claws standing inward for grasping narrow tree branches, leaves and fruit. Like the giant panda it has a false thumb which is an extension of the wrist bone. When descending a tree, head first, the red panda rotates its ankle to control its descent and is one of the few climbing species to do so. The red panda is territorial and lives on its own except during the breeding season, they only make a few sounds like twittering, tweeting and whistling, and they like sleeping and resting on tree branches or in tree hollows during the early hours of the day and they increase their activity during late afternoon and early evening. They eat mostly bamboo, but they may also eat small mammals, birds, eggs, flowers and berries. The red panda can reproduce when they are about 28 months old, and a few days before they give birth she will start gathering items to make a nest with and has and she will have between one to four cubs. After the birth she will clean the cubs and by doing this she is then able to easily recognise each cub by its own smell. Photograph taken at Selwo Zoo, Estepona, Spain.
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