Editing Red panda (section)

===Reproduction and parenting===
[[File:Dortmund-Zoo-Kleiner Panda151930.jpg|thumb|Red panda tending its cub|alt=Red panda mother with cub]]
Red pandas are [[Photoperiodism#Animals|long-day]] breeders, reproducing after the [[winter solstice]] as daylight grows longer. Mating thus takes place from January to March, with births occurring from May to August. Reproduction is delayed by six months for captive pandas in the southern hemisphere. [[Oestrous]] lasts a day, and females can enter oestrous multiple times a season, but it is not known how long the intervals between each cycle last.<ref name="Curry">{{cite book |author=Curry, E. |year=2021 |chapter=Reproductive biology of the Red Panda |title=Red Panda: Biology and Conservation of the First Panda |editor=Glatston, A. R. |pages=119–138 |edition=Second |publisher=Academic Press |place=London |isbn=978-0-12-823753-3}}</ref>

As the reproductive season begins, males and females interact more, and will rest, move, and feed near each other. An oestrous female will spend more time marking and males will inspect her anogenital region. Receptive females make tail-flicks and position themselves in a [[lordosis behavior|lordosis]] pose, with the front lowered to the ground and the spine curved. [[copulation (zoology)|Copulation]] involves the male mounting the female from behind and on top, though face-to-face matings as well as belly-to-back matings while lying on the sides also occur. The male will grab the female by the sides with his front paws instead of biting her neck. Intromission is 2–25 minutes long, and the couple [[Social grooming|groom]] each other between each bout.<ref name="Curry"/>

[[Gestation]] lasts about 131 days.<ref name="Roberts1979"/> Prior to giving birth, the female selects a denning site, such as a tree, log or stump hollow or rock crevice, and builds a nest using material from nearby, such as twigs, sticks, branches, bark bits, leaves, grass and moss.<ref name="Gebauer">{{cite book |author=Gebauer, A. |year=2021 |chapter=The early days: maternal behaviour and infant development |title=Red Panda: Biology and Conservation of the First Panda |editor=Glatston, A. R. |pages=149–179 |edition=Second |publisher=Academic Press |place=London |isbn=978-0-12-823753-3}}</ref> [[Litter (zoology)|Litters]] typically consist of one to four cubs that are born fully furred but blind. They are entirely dependent on their mother for the first three to four months until they first leave the nest. They nurse for their first five months.<ref name="Roberts1979">{{cite journal|last1=Roberts|first1=M. S.|last2=Kessler|first2=D. S. |name-list-style=amp |year=1979|title=Reproduction in Red pandas, ''Ailurus fulgens'' (Carnivora : Ailuropodidae) |journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=188 |issue=2 |pages=235–249|doi=10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb03402.x}}</ref> The bond between mother and offspring lasts until the next mating season. Cubs are fully grown at around 12 months and at around 18 months they reach [[sexual maturity]].<ref name="roberts+gittleman" /> Two radio-collared cubs in eastern Nepal separated from their mothers at the age of 7–8 months and left their birth areas three weeks later. They reached new home ranges within 26–42 days and became residents after exploring them for 42–44 days.<ref name=Bista_al2021b/>