The red panda is what Webster 1913 means by the word panda, but he's the only one. The red panda (Ailurus fulgens), also called the lesser panda, looks nothing like the giant panda; it's fairly small, reddish, and looks like a cross between a raccoon and a fox to me.

The red panda has a wider range than its giant relative, throughout the mountains of China, Nepal, Bhutan, India. Laos and Burma. It comes out at dawn and dusk to eat mostly bamboo but also other plant matter and occasionally small insects, birds or mice. Like the giant panda, it has an extended wrist bone which acts like a thumb. The adults are usually solitary.

The red panda is vulnerable to habitat destruction, but not nearly so endangered as the giant panda, and also the red panda breeds well in captivity.

Like the giant panda, a debate goes on as to whether this panda is most closely related to raccoons, bears, or what. Scientists do agree that the two types of panda are most closely related to one another.

Lesser panda

Another name for the "red panda," an Asian creature about the size and appearance of a large raccoon with rusty fur, a white-and-brown mask, a dark belly, and cream rings around the tail. Related to the giant panda but now seen by some as its own species, Ailuridae.

The name "lesser panda" is unfair to these regal beasts. For one, they were discovered by the Western world first. To be relegated to "lesser" status upon the discovery of the so-called "giant panda" is an insult that has yet to be addressed. For two...well, if you've ever seen one, you'd immediately understand why they were once known as "the most beautiful animals on earth." Lo, how the mighty have fallen! All because their black-and-white cousins have hired a better PR department. An outrage, I tell you! A base affront!

Unfortunately, red pandas are among the laziest animals on earth (almost lazier than lions!), and any attempts to stir them into civil activism, despite offers of fresh bamboo, have thus far failed. Stay tuned for developments on the Wah! front...