Two weeks in Red Panda Country

Two weeks in Red Panda Country

Giant Panda is of course the iconic animal of China. However, the country is also known for another panda: the Red Panda or little panda. This animal actually isn’t even genetically close to the Giant Panda. They are both carnivores and that’s about it. Actually, this animal is genetically distinct not only from the Giant Panda, but also from just about every other animal on the planet. As one of the few animals, the Red Panda single-handedly represents both a genus and a family. That family falls under the superfamily Musteloidea, which also includes raccoons, skunks and weasels. Besides being genetically special, it is also a very attractive animal to look at. So I really wanted to see this one!

I had high hopes for some nice sightings too because the area in which we would look for the Giant Panda was also supposed to be the perfect area for the Red Panda. This species also likes bamboo. However, in winter they eat more berries. China has the subspecies Styani by the way, which differs from the subspecies Fulgens, which can be found in India, among other places. Styani has a much redder face. It has recently been proposed to split these two subspecies into separate species. That would mean that the Red Panda is no longer alone, but in reality the two are of course still very similar.

I knew from others that Red Panda should not be that difficult in the area where we would be spending a lot of time. In fact, others often saw Red Pandas every morning and every evening! So I wasn’t worried and I was secretly counting on getting some nice photos. However, when we had not seen any trace of Red Pandas on our third day in the area, I started to be a little worried. Could it be that the Red Pandas had moved to another area? A movement of a few hundred meters would take the animals out of my sight and I knew that Red Pandas like to be in larger family groups. This often results in many observations if the group is in the right place, but possibly nothing at all if the group has moved.

Luckily my worries came to an end during lunch that day because there was a Red Panda sleeping in the tree next to the parking lot!

Red Panda

It was also a particularly small Red Panda and possibly a young animal. Initially the animal slept soundly.

Red Panda

For several hours in fact, but our patience was finally rewarded when the Red Panda climbed out of the tree. We had a beautiful sighting. I couldn’t have wished for more!

Red Panda

I actually had to be satisfied with it because in the next few days we saw nothing. Very late in one afternoon we had another Red Panda in the bamboo, but that was not a great sighting.

Red Panda

Of course, they can’t all be great. Other Red Pandas we saw were far away.

In the second week, we finally saw the long-awaited Giant Panda on Tuesday. The next day it started snowing. We initially went back to the place where we had seen the Giant Panda, but we could no longer find it. We decided to go to another place in the afternoon where we had seen all our Red Pandas so far. We specifically looked for them. It seemed like a dream to us to see that species in the snow. I could already see the picture in my mind: that red fur with falling snow, it doesn’t get much better than that! Of course, dreams like that often don’t come true and we walked a long way through the snow without a trace of a Red Panda.

Dark-rumped Rosefinch

Then we suddenly found a Red Panda in a tree and there turned out to be a second one there as well!

Red Panda

They both slept at first, but then started crawling around in the tree. While they were busy, it also started snowing.

Red Pandas

So I had my dreamed picture of a red panda in the falling snow! It started snowing very heavily. We left de pandas alone and enjoyed the area for a while.

Red Panda

With the adrenaline of the Giant Panda still noticeably present in us and being in the beautiful snow-covered forest, this was certainly one of my favorite moments of the trip. I was actually ready to get our plane back: nothing more to wish for!

On the very last day in the panda area we decided to spend the morning in a new area that seemed very good for Giant Pandas. We had already found many traces. We also expected interesting other animals here. So we went for a walk. There was also a lot of snow here. While we were walking along the road, a Red Panda suddenly came sneaking out of the bushes.

Red Panda

He turned in our direction and hopped very calmly towards us!

Red Panda

He didn’t seem to notice us at all. This became apparent when he saw us and stopped a few meters away from us.

Red Panda

We got another penetrating look and the Red Panda dived into the first bush near him.

Red Panda

That bush was much too small and we could therefore view him at eye level.

Red Panda

After taking a few photos, we moved away again so that the Red Panda would feel free to leave the bush. That didn’t take long and the Red Panda slowly crawled down, showing off its long tail beautifully. Once on the ground, he took off running and took to the safety of a large tree.

Red Panda

We were very happy with this wonderful sighting. We walked on for a while and then returned. Near the spot where we had seen the Red Panda, there were now about 20 Blood Pheasants. I had never seen that species before and they were a sight to see in their own right.

Blood Pheasant

While we were watching these birds, the Red Panda we had seen before suddenly crawled out of the bushes next to us!

Red Panda

We kept quiet, but the Red Panda had a better eye on us this time and showed no more than his head. We all thought it that was fine. We could leave Red Panda Country with nothing left to whish for!

Would you also like to read how the search for the Giant Panda went? Click here!