Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens)

• Context (IE): The Red Panda Conservation Breeding and Augmentation Programme of the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park is shortlisted for the 2024 Conservation & Environmental Sustainability Awards by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).

• Also known as the “firefox“, “lesser panda”, and “red-cat-bear”, is a small arboreal mammal found in the forests of India, Nepal, Bhutan, and the northern mountains of Myanmar and southern China.
• In India, they are found in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts of West Bengal. It is the state animal of Sikkim.
• Two subspecies: Himalayan red panda (A. f. fulgens) and Chinese red panda (A. f. styani). Yarlung Zangbo River is the actual geographical barrier between the distributions of these two species.
  • Himalayan Red Pandas are present in Sikkim, Darjeeling-Kalimpong districts of West Bengal, Nepal, Bhutan and Southern Tibet. Chinese Red Pandas are distributed in southeastern Tibet, Northern Myanmar and the Sichuan and Yunan provinces of China.
• Habitat: Inhabit mountainous mixed deciduous and conifer forests, especially with old trees and dense understories of bamboo.

Credits: IUCN

• They are nocturnal and usually solitary.
• Diet: Though they belong to a carnivorous group of mammals, they mostly eat bamboo shoots and occasionally fruit, insects, bird eggs and small lizards.
• Conservation Status: IUCN: Endangered | CITES: Appendix I | WPA, 1972: Schedule I.