Red pandas are omnivores. They would eat both vegetation and animals, but their main diet consists of bamboo. Red pandas love to eat berries, mushrooms, fruit, grass and tree bark. Red pandas are not expert hunters, so they scavenge for insects, eggs, baby birds, mice and bamboo rats, eating what they can find. Red pandas are solitary animals. To avoid competition, red pandas come out after sunset and goes around the forest until daybreak in search for food.

Unlike their name , red pandas are not related to the giant panda at all. Red pandas are unique creatures as they are seen as a cross between a bear and a cat, which is why it is also known as the red cat-bear. It is also nicknamed the lesser panda. Red pandas is the only living species of the Ailuridae family of animals and the class genus Ailurus. It was once categorized with bear and raccoon families but were later given their own class and family name—Ailuridae, a part of the superfamily Musteloidea consisting of the raccoon, otter, skunk, badger and weasel.

Red pandas have a fur covering their entire bodies. They have white, light colored hair on their faces, long, red brown hair on upper back and darker fur on the lower parts of their bodies. They also have distinctive tear shaped markings on their faces. Each red panda has their own distinctive markings, so no two red pandas are alike. Their heads are small and round with standing ears, black eyes and nose. Their tail has red, yellow alternating rings that act as clever camouflage amongst their moss and lichen laced habitat. They have short legs covered in thick black fur that runs to the soles of their paws. This ensures that the red panda is well insulated during Winter months while concealing their scent glands located at their anus.