Red pandas are seasonal breeders that mate on the ground in early winter. Their reproductive cycles are influenced by the photoperiod, or the number of hours of light per day. They can have one or multiple ovulatory events in a brief breeding period. The gestation period of a female red panda varies from 114 to 145 days. They give birth to one to four cubs, averaging two, in late spring or summer inside hollow tree nests. Red pandas are solitary except during the breeding season, when males occupy territories. 

The Red Panda life cycle is fairly simple. Red pandas may live as long as 23 years. They show symptoms of age at around 12 to 14 years old. While females do not breed after age 12, males continue to be reproductively capable.