Sunday, November 30, 2008

RED PANDA - CRITTERS SUNDAY

Align LeftRed Panda


Obviously the Red Panda, or Lesser Panda (shining cat) is not a native creature of the island. I know we have some strange creatures here naturally, but this isn't one of them. Well if we don't have foxes, badgers or squirrels we are hardly going to have these cuties running around. Curraghs Wildlife Park has been paramount with the breeding of the cute little animals which are sadly on the decline, for many reasons ie. habitat fragmentation in their native dwellings of China, Nepal and Myanmar to name a few. So much so that they are classed as "threatened" on the Conservation List. Thanks to not only the wildlife park, but others around the world, these other worldly cuties are currently breeding and hopefully can be saved.


Pichu and his mother Isla, the escaped Red Pandas from Scotland were of course originally from the Island. Thet were bred in captivity here at Curraghs Wildlife Park and then sent across to Scotland. Obviously they had developed a taste for Manx kippers instead of haggis and were heading back for the Isle Of Man. Not the first instance of escpaed animals from Curraghs. Click on George to read my earlier post about the escaped pelican including photo. Unfortunately still no confirmed sighting of the escaped wallaby. Willing volunteer needed to dress up in a fake fur wallaby costume so I can fake a sighting of the critter. Should this idea be taken up, remember you read it here first.


Links below

George
Red Panda, my other photo
Wiki, Red Panda info.


For more wonderful camera critters see MISTY DAWN Camera critters and be sure to leave a nice comment for Misty' s own outstanding posts.



62 comments:

lv2scpbk said...

Love the tail.

Anonymous said...

This critter certainly bears no resemblance to the other panda. Very pretty guy.

Sue Seibert said...

Wow, certainly not a native to your island, but I assume he survives there very well!

marley said...

Such a striking creature. I went to a zoo once hoping to see one and it wouldn't/didn't come out of it's log house. Doh!

crittoria said...

I love red pandas, they're so cute!

Anonymous said...

how lovely. I never knew the story about them escaping from Scotland! You learn something new every day!

Unknown said...

This is a first for me. Very neat looking critter!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Baboosha: That is a beautiful animal.

ratmammy said...

wow, what a funny looking creature! he looked like part raccoon, part fox!

sweetmom said...

nice capture! so beautiful..

Lapa37 said...

he sure is cute thanks for all the info on them very informative.

Anonymous said...

It does have a raccoon face. Very cute Babs!

ChrissyM said...

Amazing shot!! This is awesome!

Gaelyn said...

The red panda is adorable. Looks sort of like a ring-tail cat. Sure glad there are places like you wildlife park.

Anonymous said...

Our country this beast. there is no A Beautiful animal. Greetings.

Willard said...

An excellent photo with a lot of good information about the animal. Well done.

Julie said...

Very pretty and I am glad he is surviving.

DeniseinVA said...

I am so glad people are taking note. It was be sad to lose this beautiful animal. Lovely photo, and lovely post.

Rosie said...

Beautiful shot...

Teena in Toronto said...

I've never see a red panda. Very cool!

I played too :)

Cathy said...

Loved the photo! The Red Panda's appearance remind me of the coatimundis we have here in Arizona.

Anonymous said...

LB,

Props and Kudos. You nailed it again.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful Panda. Great shot.

Rhea said...

What a cute, unique looking animal! I have never seen or heard of it before. LOVE it. Cool photo.

raf said...

This is great, Babooshka. remember your first post and what neat little critters they are. Interesting story too about the whole cast of escapees from the Isle of Man. Who might be next? :)

Ramblings of a Villas Girl said...

Hi! The local zoo here will have a pair from time to time. They are very cute and fun to watch. Thank you for sharing this. Lisa

magiceye said...

very cute!

ayamlin said...

Hello!
You might believe so, red pandas increase in Tokyo.
Somebody used to have red panda but the person threw away it.
and it ended up increasing.
I saw it once on a road!

Dar's Foto Faze said...

Wow,want a amazing critter. Thank you for sharing your world.

Cloudia said...

Wonderful red fellow!
We recently had a tiger strolling the grounds of Honolulu zoo before hours- the children's petting zoo a few yards away was empty of delicious children at that hour, though. . . Looked around and went back home with a yawn. Wish i was on your island to wear the fur and make some fake fun. Would fake fur suit the occasion? Aloha-

Virginia said...

When I taught 3rd grade and before "no child left behind" (Thank you Mr. President ) where I I had to spend my days cramming standardized tests down my students' throats, I actually taught wonderful thematic units where they learned all about pandas, and red pandas and how they were alike and different. Well that said. I was interested in your text today. Sorry I went off on a rant.
V

Jules said...

What amazing creatures.

Good to catch up with your posts - they are all stunning.

Lilli & Nevada said...

Ah what cutie, so sleek looking too

Baruch said...

He is such a gorgeous looking fellow

humanobserver said...

certainly it is a strange to see them there....I guess they are only available in China !

pts said...

love it!

me ann my camera said...

This delightful, colourful creature's tail reminds me of a Raccoons. Thanks for the introduction of this Panda, I have never heard of it before. A great critter.

Anonymous said...

It is a gorgeous colour.

Thanks for working so hard going round my posts.
Incidentally, that SW shot is a dream.

Poopsie aka Blue said...

What a wonderful animal - such a rich colour.
It's good that the park is doing work to help for their survival.

NYD said...

Red pandas are very popular here in Japan. This guy looks quite happy.

Pat said...

Very chic beastie! And cute,too.

mrsnesbitt said...

Wow! What a fantastic colour!

Anonymous said...

Another great photography.

Anonymous said...

Really cute and educational.

Heart of Rachel said...

Lovely critter. I admire the efforts put into rehabilitating animals and improving their number in the wild.

Marie said...

I had never heard of red pandas!!!!!!!!!!!!
George is my ex-husband's name :-)))

June said...

Like some others, I'd not known there was a red panda. Thanks for sharing about it!

i beati said...

Iposted on them last week quite special and don't get the press the others do.//sandy

Chuck Pefley said...

What an interesting looking animal. Looks like it might have distant cousins in the raccoon family, but this guy got too close to the red paint can and was just a bit too curious.

Unknown said...

I just love these guys!

PJ said...

Check out the red pandas on Cute Overload for a different take.
Kudos to the wildlife preserve.

Lakshmi said...

beautiful..have seen one in sikkim in north east india.

Eki said...

What a cute critter she is, B!

Now if I understand it correctly, they are Scotland and not native of the Isle of Man, but now are free and roaming the island?

Now, that gets me curious: How that does not affect the native habitat and animals?

I'm a bit behind with my blog and reading my friends' blogs like yours. I've been terribly busy at work. So, I guess I'd catch up a little bit here:

- I love that Britania Pub photo. It's very classic.
- I also love that beautiful Sulby Rivel viesta ...

Have a great weekdays ahead, B.

Eki

Norm said...

so cute and beautiful...

Jane Hards Photography said...

Eki, no they Chinese. The two that escaped in Scotland were originally born in captivity in the Isle of Man. All back in captivity.

Chuck and everyone who who thought so they are related to the raccoon family.

Thanks as always for the commnets and generally stopping by.

Unknown said...

Never heard of this sort of animal before. Glad to see what one looks like. I wonder what colour poo it produces!

How's your investigation into white dog doodah going? Perhaps it could be a worldwide topic for researching!

Gattina said...

I never heard of a red Panda, it looks cute !

AppleDebbie said...

What a beautiful animal. Thank you for the informative post!

Kelly said...

What a wonderful animal!! I've never seen one before!! Very great post!

stromsjo said...

Now this little fellow would have been nice to click-and-enlarge.

Anonymous said...

They do have adorable faces. Fun and informative post.

Becky said...

Interesting fact...I do believe these critters are actually not related to pandas at all, but in fact, raccoons. Can anyone confirm this?

LinkWithin

Blog Widget by LinkWithin