Life Cycle
Red pandas have a long gestation period (roughly 135 days) for an animal
that weighs only 11 pounds at maturity. They also have small litters,
producing about two cubs on average.
Despite the amount of food that red pandas eat, they grow quite slowly,
reaching adult size after 12 months. The young become sexually mature
at 18 months.
As a result of these characteristics, red pandas have a slow rate of
reproduction and have a great deal of difficulty recovering from population
declines.
Source: Red Panda: The Fire Cat by Miles Roberts (ZooGoer 21(2), 1992). Photo: National Geographic