> Which of the following animals is considered endangered?Considering the red panda, carpenter ant, African clawed frog and silver carp,the answer is: the red panda. Photo courtesy: WWF.orgFound in bamboo forests throughout the Himalayas, the redpanda is about the size of a raccoon, and has a ruddy red coat and whitemarkings. Its features make it look like a relative of a panda, bear, orraccoon, but the red panda is actually in a family of animals all by itself,known as the Ailuridae family.While what usually comes to mind when thinking of the word "panda" is a big oldblack and white softie who lazes around eating bamboo, the red panda is quite adifferent character. As a member of the Ailuridae family, red pandas are moreclosely related to the family of animals containing raccoons, weasels andskunks. However, they do share giant pandas' diet of bamboo, as well as theiranatomically evolved pseudo-thumb, which is a modified wrist bone used to graspbamboo when feeding. Red pandas are incredibly agile, tree-loving creatures. They spend their days insolitude, seeking food to eat and avoiding predators. Red pandas have a bonestructure that uniquely allows flexibility for climbing and disembarking (punintended) tree trunks or branches. Today, though their population is endangered,the red panda primarily inhabit the mountains of Nepal and northern Myanmar(Burma), as well as central China. Did you know? Red pandas have white faces with reddish-brown “tear” marks that extend from theeyes to the corner of the mouth. These tear marks likely evolved to help keepthe sun out of their eyes, while the white of their face allows a mother to findher cub in near complete darkness. On behalf of all red pandas: thanks, MotherNature!Learn more about these adorable pandas below.