The female red pandas come into heat only in January or February for 1-3 days.  The male and female tend to groom each other during their courtship, but once they have mated, the male abandons the female.  The female then goes into a gestation period of about 90-145 days.(11)  After gestation a litter of 1-4 is born (usually 1 or 2).  The young is born in a rock crevice or tree hollow lined with grass, branches and leaves. The young is born covered in a solid colour of hair and is blind for about 21 – 30 days. (9)

During this period the young relies on its mother for everything.  The mother eats three times more milk to sustain her young.  The cubs drink milk until they are 5 months old, when they start to eat bamboo leaves.  The red pandas obtain full adult growth after 12 months and then leave their parents before the next litter is born.  Finally, at 18 months the red pandas reach sexual maturity.  A red pandas life span is about 10-12 years in captivity and 7 years in the wild. (9)