RED PANDA
The highly elusive red panda is native to the thick mountainous forests of China. Feeds on bamboo leaves and shoots as well as a variety of roots, grass, small mice, bird eggs and babies, and fruit. The red panda tends to be a solitary creature that feeds at night. Related to the raccoon.
I usually see them at zoos and they are perched high up in a tree wrapped closely around a branch or the trunk. The Sacramento Zoo has a very nice enclosure with viewing from almost 270 degrees. They were sleeping, as expected, but they moved around a bit and I was lucky to catch the shot above before it went inside.
I just discovered that the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle has a Red Panda. I was looking for more birds and I remembered they had a Demoiselle Crane somewhere past the Petting Farm area off to the left on the main entrance. I got lucky cause this one was on the ground and walking all around. There was that annoying chain link fence. This one looks really healthy. Rich red coat and its head is still red. Maybe the one above is a bit older.
4/3/05 I went to the Sacramento Zoo yesterday with a new camera setup, the Nikon D2X with the 200-400 AFS VR lens and a monopod. I also carried the D1X with the 70-200 AFS VR lens. Anyway, the red panda exhibit had two youngsters, about 17 months old, that were out and active. They were the cutest pair. I was highly entertained by their antics for over a half hour. Most of my photo opportunities came when they were in the shadier parts of the enclosure. I was able to get a few good shots of them during more stationary times. Although the camera and lens captured a fairly sharp image at lower shutter speeds when the animals were still, they simply moved too fast for the 1/60 speed f/4 at 400mm setting. Too blurry. You'll fall in love with these cuties. See #9-20.
Here's a link to more info: Red Panda
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