About an hour down from Gopte 3439m, on the Helambu Trail in Nepal. 🙂
The red panda (Ailurus fulgens), also called lesser panda and red cat-bear, is a small arboreal mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and south-western China that has been classified as vulnerable by IUCN as its wild population is estimated at less than 10,000 mature individuals. The population continues to decline and is threatened by habitat loss and fragmentation, poaching, and inbreeding depression …
The red panda is slightly larger than a domestic cat. It has reddish-brown fur, a long, shaggy tail, and a waddling gait due to its shorter front legs. It feeds mainly on bamboo, but is omnivorous and also eats eggs, birds, insects, and small mammals. It is a solitary animal, mainly active from dusk to dawn, and is largely sedentary during the day. …
I saw mine in the middle of the day. I surprised it, walking up the trail quietly.
It dashed uphill, instantly out of sight. Then sprinted back across the trail downhill. It looked tiny. Mostly tail. Two distinct colours.
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