red pandas in Myanmar & China

After the recent tragedies in these areas, I e-mailed Brian Williams, founder of The Red Panda Network (formerly The Red Panda Project) to find some information on how the red pandas may have fared. Here is his response:

In Myanmar (Burma), the cyclone hit lowland - midland tropical areas of the southeastern corner of the country and red panda are found
in the far northwestern corner. So, fortunately red panda were spared from the loss of their habitat in this region.

In China, the quake occurred in red panda habitat in Sichuan province, based on research done in New Zealand (http://www.jstor.org/pss/176646), I would venture to guess that red panda habitat within a 10 km range of the epicenter was damaged severely and less severely within and beyond 30km. It would be interesting to
travel to the region and do an assessment.

Please keep the people and wildlife in these areas in your thoughts and I encourage you to visit The Red Panda Network. Brian has been very helpful, and it is just an amazing organization. I am honored to be mentioned on their site! Many thanks!

Dustin Hoffman sets the record straight

Dustin Hoffman is the voice behind Shifu, the wise mentor who happens to be a red panda, in the upcoming movie "Kung Fu Panda". The problem is, Shifu doesn't really look like a red panda. Here is a quote from Hoffman clearing up any confusion:

The press release says your character is a two-foot tall red panda, but before I read that, I saw the film and I thought you were a raccoon. So which is it? And how do you get into the mindset of either of those animals?

Well, I've always been in the mindset of a raccoon, so that's a redundant question. But you cannot believe how many people have asked me whether I'm a rodent or a raccoon. Somehow, no matter how wonderful the animators of this film were, they have not made it specific enough.

I am a rare red panda. I cannot be responsible for their errors.

The entire article can be found here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7407088.stm

A red panda quiz

Here is a quiz about red pandas. Post how you do here!

http://www.gotoquiz.com/red_panda_quiz_1