KATHMANDU, Jan 13 (OneWorld) - Despite conservation efforts, there is a steady attrition in Nepal's Red Panda population, as both humans and cattle invade its fragile Himalayan habitat, with experts saying only 300 of the shy animals may be left in the wild.
The Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens) is a shy mammal with long and soft reddish-brown fur with distinctive black and white markings on its face and a ringed tail. It is found in cold, high-altitude mountain forests in Nepal, India, Bhutan and China.
The animal usually lives at the base of trees, inside caves and crevices of boulders and feeds on bamboo shoots, fruits and wild mushrooms. It is most active at dawn and dusk.
The Red Panda used to be hunted for its distinctive reddish-brown fur, but now thanks to efforts by the Worldwide Fund for Nature, World Conservation Union (IUCN) and the Nepal government, the local people have become protective of the animal.
In the past year, more than half a dozen animals have been rescued and handed over to the authorities concerned.
But panda PR alone may not be enough to save the animal from the maw of extinction. "Habitat destruction is the main threat. Livestock grazing and timber extraction are destroying bamboo at an alarming rate at national parks and reserves," says the chief of nongovernmental organization, Resources Himalaya, Prahlad Yonzon.
Yonzon, who conducted the first study on Red Pandas in 1990, says increased cheese production for tourists in Nepal has contributed to an increase in fuel-wood consumption by factories, and overgrazing by cattle, which has hit bamboo growth.
Intrusion by herders and their dogs which often attack panda cubs, and trappers who cater to the pet trade have seriously affected the Red Panda population.
"Red Pandas have a naturally low birth rate (usually single or twin births per year) and a high death rate in the wild, worsened by human encroachment, leading to severe fragmentation of the remaining wild population," says Yonzon.
Experts estimate that the population in the wild varies greatly. They say over the last 50 years, the Red Panda population in China has decreased by 40 percent. Animals in the Eastern Himalayan area are believed to be in worse shape.
"Since it is difficult to observe the animal, we cannot tell the exact number of Red Pandas in Nepal," says Yonzon.
Compared to its more famous cousin, the Giant Panda, the Red Panda may have received less attention, but Giant Panda conservation programs have benefited the red one as well. It has protected legal status in Nepal, though enforcement of laws is a problem area.
"Since the animal is in critical condition, IUCN has placed the Red Panda in the endangered list of mammals along with the snow leopard, rhinoceros, tiger, Asian elephant and Arna buffalo among others," says the country representative of IUCN Nepal, Mahesh Baskota.
Perhaps, the only silver lining is the attitudinal change in people. "Our integrated conservation education program, which is currently active in three national parks, includes protection of the Red Panda," says WWF country representative Chandra Gurung.
"The integrated conservation education program teaches people about the importance of endangered species," he adds.
Sanjib Rai, 19, a member of the local Eco Club, saw an injured Red Panda and instead of killing it, handed it over to the local authorities. Rai had seen a picture of the animal in pamphlets widely distributed by conservationists.
Another three-year-old female Red Panda was rescued in Taplejung district, 700 miles east of the capital, Kathmandu. Chandra Bahadur Katuwal, a member of a community forest consumer group, contacted local conservation officials after he spotted the animal, which he recognized as an endangered one.
In the Langtang National Park, 50 miles north of Kathmandu, officials received a similar positive response from local people who handed them two red pandas.
"The Red Panda is a protected species and killing and harming the species is a criminal offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison," says the director general of the Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation, Tirtha Man Maskey.
