At 10 years old, Wicket is a fully grown male

with a height of just over two feet

or slightly larger than your average house cat.

As cute as he is, his population has decreased dramatically,

with less than 10,000 left in the wild.

(upbeat music)

Red panda in name, it is not closely related

to the giant panda, but actually closer

to the raccoon family.

He loves to eat bamboo,

but won't turn down the occasional bird,

insect or mammal for a snack.

Native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China,

red pandas live in trees and are nimble, agile climbers.

Their reddish brown fur and bushy tails camouflage them

in their habitat from predators, like snow leopards.

Besides other animals, humans pose a major threat,

poaching and hunting them for their fur.

The forests that they live in are shrinking fast,

and estimates say that their population has been cut in half

in the last 20 years.

This is the red panda.