The Red Panda, much like the Giant Panda, relies heavily upon bamboo for its diet, but due to destruction of their habitat, bamboo is not always an option. In addition to that the Red Panda will only eat the youngest and most tender shoots and leaves, also chewing it thoroughly where the giant panda barely chews at all. Red Pandas also have a small, bony projection on their wrists that helps them grip bamboo stalks. The Red Panda actually slows its metabolism rate when no bamboo can be found for survival and in cold weather. When in times of need, the Red Panda will scavenge for fruits and hunt insects and small mammals (Mcdonald 14). Red pandas are also the only known mammal to be able to taste artificial sweeteners, such as aspartame. The Red Panda spends the majority of its day, approximately 13 hours, foraging around for food. The female, being the more dominant of the species, must eat 30% of its body weight and up to 200,000 bamboo leaves a day due to slow metabolism (Delaney, Cameron).…