Red panda actually two separate species: study
Red pandas, the bushy-tailed and russet-furred bamboo munchers that dwell in Asian high forests, are not a single species but rather two distinct ones, according to the most comprehensive genetic study to date on these endangered mammals. Scientists said on Wednesday they found substantial divergences between the two species - Chinese red pandas and Himalayan red pandas - in three genetic markers in an analysis of DNA from 65 of the animals. Chinese red pandas are found in northern Myanmar as well as southeastern Tibet, Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in China, while Himalayan red pandas are native to Nepal, India, Bhutan and southern Tibet in China, the researchers said.
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