Germany: Red panda goes missing from Duisburg Zoo

A red panda remained on the loose in western Germany on Friday, with the Duisburg Zoo desperately trying to track down the animal.

The panda escaped its enclosure on Thursday and left staff searching the grounds and surrounding areas for the animal, dubbed “Jang”, ever since.

• Red panda truths

  What’s in a name?

  Red pandas don’t share many physical features with their giant monochrome namesakes, and their appearance is more likely to be compared to that of a raccoon or a cat. In fact the first published description of the animal referred to it as “Ailurus fulgens,” which translates to something like “red shining cat.” Taxonomically, however, they’re part of their own unique family: Ailuridae.

• Red panda truths

  Which came first, the red or the giant?

  French zoologist Frederic Cuvier first described the red panda on record in 1825, almost half a century before the lolloping black-and-white bears were first cataloged. Exactly how the two species came to be called pandas is unclear, but some claims suggest the name is derived from “nigalya ponya,” an old Nepalese term for bamboo-eating animal. Figures…

• Red panda truths

  Dinner time

  …since bamboo is a staple of both the red and the giant pandas’ diet. So much so that they have extended wrist bones with thumb-like functions that help them strip the stalks. But the red panda, which has to consume 30 percent of its body weight daily, also eats bugs, fruit, eggs, bark and flowers. Pregnant females sometimes mix it up to include lizards, birds or rodents.

• Red panda truths

  Maternal instinct

  Red pandas tend to be solitary animals except during the breeding season, which starts in the late fall. After a four-month gestation period, the female typically gives birth to between one and four young — paler versions of herself. During their first days in the nest, the cubs have her undivided attention. At 3 months, they’re changing color and beginning to nibble bamboo.

• Red panda truths

  Growing up

  The young remain with their mother in the nest for the first two and a half months, when she starts introducing them to the outside world and all the freedoms it has to offer. Though independent by the age of 8 months, the cubs don’t leave their mother entirely until her next litter is born. Both females and males reach sexual maturity between 18 and 20 months of age.

• Red panda truths

  In the tree tops

  When not foraging for bamboo, red pandas spend most of their time way above the ground, moving among the trees with agility. They tend to take frequent naps among the branches as a way of conserving energy, but they also breed up high. They’re at home in the wooded mountain habitats of Nepal, northern Myanmar and central China.

• Red panda truths

  Surviving in the wild

  With the number of animals left in the wild believed to be less than 10,000, and some suggestions putting the figure as low as 2,500, red pandas are categorized as endangered on the IUCN Red List. The main threats facing them are a loss of habitat and food sources as a result of deforestation to create space for agriculture and human housing. They are also hunted for their skins.

• Red panda truths

  Ripe old age

  Efforts have been ongoing for several years to establish conservation areas and projects to protect these raccoon-like creatures with a weakness for bamboo. Those that manage to survive poachers and pressures on the land they inhabit can live for as long as 14 years among the trees of their mountainous homes.

  Author: Tamsin Walker

Public warning

Native to the eastern Himalayas and China and bearing no relation to the giant panda, red pandas are harmless to humans, according to Duisburg Zoo.

Nevertheless, members of the public who manage to catch a glimpse of the red panda have been urged to contact police and to not try to capture Jang themselves.

The exact circumstances that led to Jang’s disappearance remain unclear; however, the zoo said it thought the animal might be in one of the many nearby trees, and could even still be on zoo grounds.

Zoo employees believe “Jang” may be lurking in the trees

Red pandas are no giants

Apart from a weakness for bamboo, red pandas don’t have a whole lot in common with their black-and-white namesakes. 

They typically grow to the size of a house cat, with their body length including head reaching around 50 centimeters (20 inches) — though their long, bushy tails can double their length.

The red panda is dwarfed by the black-and-white colossus that shares its name, with some giant pandas reaching over 1.5 meters (almost 5 feet) in height and weighing up to 150 kilograms (330 pounds).

Due to habitat loss and poaching, the red panda is listed as “endangered,” with its wild population estimated at fewer than 10,000 mature individuals.

jsi/rs (dpa, AFP)

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