With their bushy tail for balance — which can be as long as their body—and claws for gripping, red pandas are definitely acrobatic tree dwellers.

Most of their time is spent in trees, and the red panda’s cinnamon red coat, occasionally saddled with orange or yellow, and soft cream-colored face mask give great camouflage among the red moss and white lichen that cover the tree trunks of their bamboo forest homes.

Red pandas have powerful molars for chewing on tough bamboo and are mostly vegetarians—although they are classified as carnivores. Bamboo is not a great food source for energy and is hard to digest. In fact, red pandas digest only about 24 percent of the bamboo they eat.

Red pandas eat mostly bamboo leaves and shoots, acorns, and flowers. Bamboo stalks are eaten in the spring and fruit is enjoyed in the summer. They may also eat eggs, small birds, and small rodents.

Although largely solitary, red pandas exchange information using scent glands, visual cues including “stare downs” with head bobbing, and a variety of calls. Newborns in distress use a high-pitched whistle.