Red Pandas have unique red coats with tear marks running from their eyes to their mouth. Red Pandas share with the Giant Panda a special extra thumb which is actually an elongated wrist bone. They use this for gripping their favorite food, which is bamboo. This is also one of their main food sources. They eat grasses, roots, fruits, and occasionally, small rodents. They have a simple stomach and small intestine which allows them to get the most from their low calorie diet.

Red Pandas are very good natured and it is thought that in the wild they live in family groups.

Female Red Pandas give birth in the spring to one or two babies after a gestation period of 90 to 150 days. Of these, maybe only one will survive to adulthood. The babies are born in a hollow tree or rocky crevice. They are born blind and don't open their eyes for 21 days. For the first year, the babies will stay close to their mother even after they are weaned at 5 months. The males have nothing to do with the raising of the babies and generally stay away from the females except during mating season.