It's Joss here. And I have GOOD NEWS!!! Look what I coded! Isn't she cute?! Thanks to Khan Academy, I was able to code this red panda and trust me, I know what you're thinking. It looks like a fox. But if you look below, red pandas actually do look like foxes and raccoons.
Without Khan Academy and their lessons on coding, I would not be improving as I am. I had been working on this for awhile and even more so within the past week. It was certainly not easy. It wasn't like they had an animal outline or figure that I could choose from and then choose outlines to add on top of it; it was ALL from scratch. So if you want to learn how to code--animals, happy faces, even video games--I totally recommend it, just go to the Khan Academy website and you can sign in with a Google or Facebook account and you can even earn energy points for watching educational videos and doing practice questions/quizzes, whether that be for computer programming (coding) or should you choose to explore another topic of study.
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| Virginia Zoo |
That aside, this cute little red panda will be the logo for this blog as opposed to this blasé looking bear on the left that I attempted to code awhile back when I was first learning to code.
Additionally, I'm taking this as an opportunity to continue coding animals, like the red panda, that are endangered to raise awareness. This isn't sponsored in any way. I love animals and feel that I can lend a hand, even by just writing about the issues that go on in this world. Hopefully, by coding all of these animals, I can create an atmosphere and environment on this blog, where we can discuss issues, not only about animals, but issues in this world in general and hopefully this jungle of animals on this blog will be a symbol of that.
Please sign this petition on change.org to save red pandas. Here is some further information provided on the page to provide some context:
"We all know the fluffy, lovable Red Pandas, don't we? They face a huge problem: extinction. Listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, there are less than 10,000 left in the world. This is because of deforestation, environment change, food needs, and poaching. We need to help these animals survive in any way we can. Their environment is mowed down because we want to live there, they are slaughtered because we want to wear them. We are not just taking their homes. We are taking their lives. If you care about the environment, about these sweet creatures, then sign this petition so we can start to make a change. If you want to impact these animals lives even more, donate to the Red Panda Network, where you can be sure your money is going to a great cause."
On top of that, I want to provide some facts that you just may not know about red pandas, which shouldn't be a surprise considering how little we hear about red pandas, if we even do hear about them.
1) They're herbivores.
So you probably won't see them nibbling on humans any time soon. They actually like them some bamboo, like giant pandas; however, unlike giant pandas, they also incorporate fruits, nuts, grasses, and roots into their diets.
2) They are about the size of a domestic house cat.
With an eight-year life span, they can grow to range from 12-20 lbs and are about 20-26 inches long, with their tails adding about 10-20 more inches.3) They're hardly bears as we define them.
Although they are related to the giant panda we all know and love (as well as the raccoon as mentioned above), they have their own taxonomic family: the Ailuridae. In fact, they were a part of the bear (Ursidae) family before genetic tests proved them to not even be closely related to the giant panda.
4) The giant panda was named after the red panda.
But since giant pandas are actually bears and red pandas aren't, I think we could all agree that red pandas are the true, original pandas, which is why giant pandas are also known as the "parti-colored bear" or "bear-raccoons" (or the bear versions of raccoons).
5) They're pretty lazy, yet pretty active.
Most spend their days just chilling--eating and sleeping, basically just lounging about--in trees without even stepping on land. Their metabolic rate fluctuates every few hours to remind them to get the fuck up and look for food.
6) They have a false thumb.
Hear me out. They actually have what appear to be thumbs, but what are they? Extended wrist bones. According to a study in 2006, biologists found that red pandas use their false thumbs now to climb trees and reach bamboo so that they could eat, while giant pandas use their thumbs because of their bamboo diet, which is convergent evolution (a type of evolution in which two unrelated species or species that are not closely related adapt to have similar characteristics because they have similar environments or situations).
7) They're probably, most likely, 100% not local.
Don't think you can go out and buy any of these furry creatures in any pet store. They actually live in Nepal, central China, and northern Myanmar in rainy, high-altitude temperate forests and tropical forests, according to the National Zoo.
8) Stinking up the room is their secret weapon.
Like skunks, they may ooze an unpleasant scent emitted from the base of their tails to repel predators, or they may stand on their hind feet and strike away at their predators.
9) Firefox, Mozilla's browser, is named after them.
Firefox is just one of the many nicknames for red pandas; they're also known as the red cat-bear or lesser bear.
10) Grooming habits
Like cats, they use their tongue to clean themselves, however, unlike cats, which use their tongue to lick all of their body to groom themselves, red pandas lick their paws to clean themselves.
11) There is a character in Kung Fu Panda that's a red panda.
His name is Master Shifu. You might recognize him.
12) Their rusty complexion comes in handy.
When they are at the hands of predators, they could just blend into the brown and orange leaves of certain trees in, again, central China, Nepal, etc.
13) The Red Panda Effect
False memories are a reality. A false memory is "remembering" something that didn't happen because you think that even or thing happened, whether that be because of something else you remembered or because you internalized someone else's experiences, accounts, or sayings and visualized them as your own. This became a pretty true reality after a red panda was on the loose in Rotterdam, Netherlands in 1978. Funny story, but with a not-so-funny outcome. Sadly, the panda did not survive. The funny thing was that over a hundred people claimed to have seen the red panda. The sightings were obviously mistaken, but hundreds of people did claim to see the panda. Red pandas are pretty fucking distinctive, are they not? They aren't some ordinary creature you would see chilling in your neighborhood.
14) And lastly, they're endangered.
You may already know this, because I mentioned it earlier, but it's true. They're not dying because they're a threat to society and need to be detained; they're dying because of us. Habitat destruction is a reality and unless we say and do something, it's just going to keep happening. We take their bamboo and their habitats, which they need and utilize to thrive, and without them, they emaciate and find a home with unfamiliar predators that will maul the hell out of them, if they even get that far.
What are your thoughts about red pandas?
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