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Why save Red Panda?

1. Combat Global Warming. Saving red pandas is important because they are an ambassador for clean air and water for approximately 1 billion people on our planet. The forests where red panda live are the lungs of South Asia and if these forests are intact and function properly, just like a humans lungs, then we can ensure a healthy life for the people, animals and plants of South Asia. (Click on map for larger view)

2. Ecological integrity of South Asia. The mountain chains of the Eastern Himalaya and parts of southwestern China, where red panda are found, are the origin of South Asia’s three largest rivers, the Brahmaputra, Ganges and Yangtse, which provide water for half of China, northern and northwestern India, Nepal, Tibet Autonomous Region of China, Bhutan and Myanmar. According to conservation biologists, red panda are an indicator of the overall health of their home, the Eastern Himalayan Broadleaf Forest, which are the central link in the Himalayan Hotspot. However, the exact population status of this elusive and endangered animal is currently unknown. By not knowing the status of this population we are unsure of the future of one of the most important ecological regions of our planet. By helping us in our mission to protect red panda you are enabling us to create an empowering future for one of the most important regions of our planet, South Asia.

3. They have unique biology. Also, protecting red panda is important to the preservation of the World’s natural heritage and global biodiversity because it is the only species of its kind in the world. It is unique in its behavior and specialized in its habitat requirements, as well as the fact that they have no close living relatives. They are a living relict of times past.

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Is there only one kind of red panda?

The Red Panda, or "firefox," is often referred to as the "lesser panda" in deference to the better-known giant panda. Few people outside its native habitat have even heard of the red panda, let alone seen one.

There are two sub-species of the red panda:
1. Ailurus fulgens fulgens: Found in Nepal, northeastern India (West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh), Bhutan, and part of China.

2. Ailurus fulgens styani: Only found in China (in the Hengduan Mountains in Sichuan and the East Nujiang River of Yunnan Province) and northern Myanmar.

Red Panda Network:
An Earth Island Institute Project
info@redpandanetwork.org

P.O. Box 390454
Mountain View, CA 94039
tel: 877-584-6056

© Red Panda Network 2009
site developed by Paula