Talk:Red Panda

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I think this article is now good enough to be a featured article. How do we repetition? Valich 05:56, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Perhaps some sort of discussion should be held about this capitalization. Some suggestions: make it so article titles are not case sensitive! What good does it do that there could be one page on the "Red Panda" and one page on the "Red panda"? And, as far as it goes, it seems to me that it would spare a lot of agony if we simply capitalized all article titles as though they are, you know, titles. Capitalize all major words, don't capitalize prepositions and articles. That way there won't have to be arguments over these things. john 04:23 2 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Even if all titles are rendered in caps, for purposes of linking it's useful to distinguish them (see Blackberry and BlackBerry for an example).
In this case, we'd still have to argue over whether to capitalize them in running text -- the capitalisers argue for their position because it should be "Red Panda" everywhere in their opinion.

See Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (fauna) for more. (If you respond here, then I at least probably won't see it.) -- Toby Bartels 19:05 8 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Contents

[edit] Ursidae or Procyonidae?

Wilson and Reeder put the Red Panda in Ursidae. see here and here for their reasons. Dsmdgold 22:48, 2 Oct 2004 (UTC)

At the wikipedia, this page, and Procyonidae page has the red panda in ursidae. The ursidae page and the main mammal page places them in Procyonidae. It seems they are disowned by both pages. I'm going to have a go a bit of a sort out. dont change here without changing the other pages. Zeimusu

Curtis & Barnes in Invitation to Biology (Panamericana, 2003 edition) talks about the panda's question. According to these authors, latest studies on morphology, DNA-DNA Hybridation, protein comparison (by electrophoresis), inmunology and cromosome bands shows that giant panda is in fact a bear, but red panda isn't. This animal is more (but far) related to raccoons than bears. I think that the best idea is to place the red panda in its own family.

--Menah the Great 17:39, 22 January 2006 (UTC)

It's very confusing. Most sources I've seen groups it with raccoons, but a fair few group it in it's own family. I've only seen it grouped with bears once before, in a rather unreliable source. Dora Nichov 14:25, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

Current molecular-systematics places the Red Panda into its own family, Ailuridae. As you can see from the above cladigram, it's in its own clade. It's not an Ursidae or in the raccoon family. There are at least two separate and distinct subspecies, and possibly three: two in East Asia and Southeast Asia and one in India. The western Cat Bear or Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens fulgens) and the somewhat larger "Styans Cat Bear" (Ailurus fulgens styani). Valich 03:09, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Yeah I agree with Dora Nichov, that it's not relible source. I actually have two books stated about were the red panda should go. One said it's a type of long tail bear, while the other one said it;s a raccon, but may belong to a new family with the panda bear. I actually think the red panda should be a bear. User:4444hhhh

Still, most places I've seen place it with raccoons. Dora Nichov 14:05, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Firefox" Name

"It is a common misconception that the common term "firefox" for the Red Panda arises from the Chinese word "hun ho." However, neither hon nor ho are syllables used in Mandarin Chinese."

The first part says "hun", which is a syllable used in Mandarin Chinese. And depending on the transliteration system used, "ho" could also be a syllable. I think what's important is that this information is more or less irrelevant to "hun ho" being the wrong term. BTW, since when is "hun ho" being used for "red panda" a common misconception? Most people are unaware of the existence of either.

Firefox webbrowser uses the Red Panda as its logo. There is also an ancient Chinese translation of the Red Panda as hǔo hú (火狐), which literally translates as "fire fox", referring to the Red Panda’s "fire-reddish" fur color: a name which can designate either the red fox or the Red Panda. Valich 03:24, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Some Chinese sources using 火狐 for the Red Panda:

Gaolingong Nature Reserve administration website [1] [2] [3] [4]

The term "fire fox" 火&#29392 for the Red Panda has been around for centuries in China due to its "fire-reddish" coat color and most recently popularized because the webbrowser Mozilla Firefox who uses the Red Panda as its logo in China. Apparently, in China, to many people the word now designates either the fire fox or the Red Panda. Valich 06:12, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Extinction Status

The Red Panda is almost extinct in China because of housing development and illegal hunting. HoHung Min, a chinese mother said, "...We can't let this happen to our pandas...There are many other places to build homes, and their coats are not necessary, they are just wanted by many...If we don't do something, the entire population will die..." A construction worker who wishes to remain annonymous claims, "...If the pandas must be sacrificed, it is a small price to pay for good housing...What's more important, the animals, or us?..." Content from the red panda. Charles Matthews 07:54, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Unfortunately we have no reliable estimates on its population size but it is now listed as an "endangered species." Valich 06:15, 25 February 2007 (UTC)

86.141.118.151 19:07, 14 July 2007 (UTC) hello I love the red pandas from user292 here are pictures [5][6] test it outStrike-through text

[edit] Latin name

I am curious about translation of latin name "Ailurus fulgens" - "fire-colored cat". Fulgens means shining and aelurus was a literary designation for 'cat' in ancient Rome - more common word was 'feles' (perhaps Ailurus comes from greek 'ailouros'?). So could anyone fluent in latin or greek explain "fire-colored" in translated latin name? BGT

[edit] Jesus loves this little Animal?

Why does it say Jesus Loves this little Animal above the gallery and why can't I find it to remove it? At the least I feel a source is owed, no? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 72.255.41.117 (talk) 05:53, 5 February 2007 (UTC).

Never mind. I got rid of it.

Jesus loves all little animals (except for the abomination, Zedonks) so it's really not necessary to mention it in every article. --JayHenry 03:20, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Picture removed in Jesus edit?

I noticed that a cute picture I'd seen previously was missing, and traceds it to the Jesus Edit. Is there a reason that this picture wasn't restored afterwards?

Assuming that the contributor isn't lying about its status (something I've seen quite frequently), it's a cute picture, if a bit fuzzy.

Any rate, no big issue, but it is cute. --71.192.117.127 22:10, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Etymology

Removed from the "Common names" section.

The Western name Red Panda is taken from the Himalayan language: "panda" is an anglicisation of "poonya", which means "eater of bamboo".

There's no such language as "Himalayan" (there is a language family called "Himalayish", consisting of 145 distinct languages acoording to Ethnologue), and "panda" would be a terrible angliciation of "poonya". --Ptcamn 10:23, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] New Wikiproject

I wanted to make a wikiproject about ferrets and weasels but it became to small a range so i have made a bigger wikiprojects including all animals in the Musteloidea super family which include both ferrets and weasels and much similar animals. Support would be appreceated.

This new wikipedia project includes the red panda

you can find it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Council/Proposals#Weasels

i also made a little template for the project,

This article is within the scope of the Weasel WikiProject, a collaborative effort to improve Wikipedia's coverage of articles relating to Ferrets, Weasels, and other Weasel like friends. If you would like to participate, you can visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks.

I hope you like it.

This wikiproject is for the superfamily of Musteloidea which currently and surprisingly does not have an article yet. This superfamily includes ferrets and weasels and all of our other furry little weasel like friends. Please put your name on it so this article could have it's very own wikiproject outside of wikiproject animals.

Teh Ferret 19:55, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Vandalism

Check under "Common names" —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 89.150.95.75 (talk) 17:09, 2 May 2007 (UTC).

This fact is mentioned twice in the opening paragraph...

I've removed the 2nd mention of that size comparison. SGGH speak! 18:31, 26 May 2007 (UTC)
I've also fact-tagged just a couple of things that need to have in-line citations :) SGGH speak! 18:34, 26 May 2007 (UTC)

Dear wiki team, we have 8 free pictures of red panda on our site. We think that these pictures can help you and your visitors. Please link to us. http://www.freepictureclick.com/picture_of_firefox.html

Freepictureclick team

[edit] Ah! Wikipedia!

This article is a good example of what happens when all kinds of uncoordinated edits take place in a Wikipedia article.

Once upon a time, in a far-off version of this article, it was noted that the Red Panda is "also known as the Small Panda, Lesser Panda, Cat Bear, Bear Cat or Fire Fox".

Then on 19 March 2007, one User:Kvn8907 deleted these names on the grounds that they were mentioned later in the article, at the section on Common names. (See http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red_Panda&diff=116424880&oldid=116373789)

And so they were! The section on common names went as follows:

The Red Panda is also known as the Wah because of its distinctive cry. This name was given to it by Thomas Hardwicke, when he introduced it to Europeans in 1821. It is called a Cat Bear because it was thought to be related to a small bear and washes itself like a cat by licking its entire body. Other names include Bear Cat, Bright Panda, Cat Bear, Common Panda, Fire Fox, Red Fox, Fox Bear, Himalayan Raccoon, Lesser Panda, Nigalya Ponya, Panda Chico, Panda Éclatant, Panda Rojo, Petit Panda, Poonya, Crimson Ngo, Red Cat, Sankam, Small Panda, Thokya, Wah, Wokdonka, Woker, and Ye.

But then, on 28 September 2007, User:Marcus334 changed the title Common names to Etymology, and added the following material:

The Chinese name of the Red Panda is 小熊貓; (pinyin: xiǎo xióng māo), meaning 'small panda' or, more analytically, 'small bear-cat', in which 'bear-cat' is the Chinese name for the panda. The Chinese name of the Red Panda is based on that of the Giant Panda, unlike English where the Giant Panda has been named after the Red Panda. The Red Panda is also sometimes known as hǔo hú (火狐), which literally translates as "Firefox", a name which can designate either the Red Fox or the Red Panda. The Red Panda is also sometimes known as the 貓熊 (pinyin: māo xióng), meaning 'cat-bear'.

Then after a persistent bout of vandalism by juveniles in November, the paragraph of alternative names disappeared on 12 November 2007 thanks to an edit by drive-by vandal User:131.111.195.8, and failed to be restored by User:Metanoid, who removed vestigial vandalism on 13 November without noticing that a whole section was missing.

And so a whole slew of alternative names disappeared, including what is a very widespread English name, the Lesser Panda. Just how widespread that English name is can be judged from the fact that the Japanese name of the animal is レッサーパンダ Ressaa Panda, which is straight from the English. Other languages all use names meaning "small panda", including German, French, and Chinese among others.

But we still have the largely irrelevant information on the Chinese naming of the Red panda added by Marcus334. red panda are foucking sweet —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.130.39.165 (talk) 03:01, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Is Wikipedia succumbing to the forces of decay and mindless vandalism?

Bathrobe (talk) 12:00, 19 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Nehru loved them

Interesting, this. The man sure had some good taste.

"Quite a lot of those beautiful animals, the red panda, come from Nepal each year to Calcutta for export to foreign zoos... they are a favorite pet of India's Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru."

Source -- Stormwatch (talk) 09:11, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

My girlfriend would whorship me if I would get her one! Anybody knows any cold-hearted professional poacher from Eastern Asia to smuggle those cutties in the black market? would love to have a deal with him ^^ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.118.191.48 (talk) 13:54, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
Man, that's crazy talk. Red pandas are endangered animals. Get your girl a husky, they're easy (and LEGAL!) to get, very friendly, and just a little bit less disturbingly cute! - Stormwatch (talk) 03:48, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Ailuropodidae or Ailuridae

I found on this website: [1]q It said that red panda's are Ailuropodidae and the RP page says Ailuridae. I'm not sure which is correct. Can somebody help me out here. Alexq4 (talk) 04:24, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

That Web site is incorrect. It's likely just a typo. Red Pandas are in Ailuridae. Ailuropodidae was once given as a family for Giant Pandas (not Red, and actually they're not that closely related), but this is pretty out of date now. I'm guessing the author of the above Web site simply mixed the two up. Giant Pandas are considered members of the family Ursidae. --JayHenry (talk) 04:55, 24 May 2008 (UTC)