It’s International Red Panda Day on Saturday 17^th September – are you ready to celebrate red pandas and raise awareness of them?

How much do you know about red pandas?

Here are 15 Fantastic Facts About Red Pandas  from the Red Panda Network - for instance, did you know that they glow in the dark? 

Threats to the Red Panda

The biggest threat to red pandas is habitat loss and fragmentation.  Agriculture and settlement conversions have fragmented forests.  These areas have been degraded because of herding and resource harvest.  Now there are 400 forest patches – unprotected and isolated.  They are reducing the ability of the red pandas to survive

Other threats are livestock herding, free roaming dogs and disease, bamboo lifecycle and world climate change.  And wildlife crime is also a worry.

We need to protect red pandas from poachers and restore their forest habitat so that they have everything they need to both survive and thrive!

But the good news...

The Red Panda Network, who celebrate their 15th birthday this year, say there is a LOT to celebrate.  For a start, red panda numbers are improving in eastern Napal, a project area, according to population data. 

So how can you help the Red Panda Network help red pandas?

Plant a Red Panda Home to reverse the effects of deforestation. 

The Red Panda Network is working with local communities to plant trees and to restore and reconnect the habitat of red pandas!  This is in Nepal.  The aim is to establish a biological corridor, which enables red pandas and other species to survive and which is protected by the community. 

This year, over 84,000 trees have een planted, and roughly 10 hectares have been purchased.  54,815 saplings have been planted over 35 hectares!

Since 2019, 336,380 trees have been planted, thus reforesting 461 hectares of red panda habitat in Nepal.  The trees are planted and fences installed to protect the saplings.  The network buys private lands in key habitat areas - it also helps the local community by giving green jobs to locals.

Not only that, there are now 12 anti-poaching networks in Nepal!  In 2021, the teams patrolled for 437 hours.  They covered about 197 km in 36 Community forests!  That's some going! 

Join the Party for Red Pandas!

Ways to help the Red Panda Network:

• Adopt a red panda from USD$50
• Plant a Red Panda Home - $20 will plant 25 trees
• Help fundraise - why not have a red panda party?!
• Sign up for the e-newsletter from the Red Panda Network so that you can keep informed
• See red pandas in the wild on an eco-trip!
• Become a panda guardian - a monthly gift will give alternative income opportunities that support sustainable livelihoods for the people living among the pandas.

Visit the Red Panda Network here