Hostname: page-component-6766d58669-nf276 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-21T08:41:45.682Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An overview of the status and conservation of the red panda Ailurus fulgens in India, with reference to its global status

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2009

Anwaruddin Choudhury
Anwaruddin Choudhury
Affiliation:
The Rhino Foundation, c/o The Assam Co. Ltd, G. Bordoloi Path, Bamunimaidam, Guwahati 781021, Assam, India. E-mail: badru1@sancharnet.in
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the 'Save PDF' action button.

The current status and distribution of the red panda Ailurus fulgens in the wild is poorly known. The subspecies fulgens is found in the Himalaya in Nepal, India, Bhutan, northern Myanmar and southwest China, and the subspecies styani occurs further to the east in south-central China. The red panda is an animal of subtropical and temperate forests, with the exception of Meghalaya in India, where it is also found in tropical forests. In the wild, red pandas take a largely vegetarian diet consisting chiefly of bamboo. The extent of occurrence of the red panda in India is about 170,000 sq km, although its area of occupancy within this may only be about 25,000 sq km. An estimate based on the lowest recorded average density and the total area of potential habitat suggests that the global population of red pandas is about 16,000–20,000. Habitat loss and poaching, in that order, are the major threats. In this paper the distribution, status and conservation problems of the red panda, especially in India, are reviewed, and appropriate conservation measures recommended, including the protection of named areas and the extension of some existing protected areas.

Keywords

Ailurus fulgensHimalayaIndiaMeghalayared panda

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Oryx , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , July 2001 , pp. 250 - 259
Copyright
Copyright © Fauna and Flora International 2001

References

Bahuguna, C, Dhaundyal, S., Vyas, P. & Singhal, N. (1998) The red panda at Singalila National Park and adjoining forest: a status report. Small Carnivore Conservation, 19, 11–12.Google Scholar
Choudhury, A.U. (1989) Primates of Assam: their distribution, habitat and status. PhD thesis, Gauhati University, Guwahati.Google Scholar
Choudhury, A.U. (1996) Red panda in Garo hills. Environ, 4, 21.Google Scholar
Choudhury, A.U. (1997) Red panda Ailurus fulgens F. Cuvier in the north-east with an important record from Garo hills. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 94, 145–147.Google Scholar
Corbet, G.B. & Hill, J.E. (1992) The Mammals of the Indomalayan Region: A Systematic Review. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Cuvier, F. (1825) Histoire Naturelle des Mammiferes avec des Figures Originales. Colorees, Desinees d'Apris des Animaux Vivants, 1824–42, vol. 2, pp. 1–3. Paris.Google Scholar
David, A. (1869) Voyage en Chine. Nouvelles Arch. Museum Histoire Naturelle Paris Bulletin, 5, 1–13.Google Scholar
Ellerman, J.R. & Morrison-Scott, T.C.S. (1966) Checklist of Palaearctic and Indian Mammals, 1758–1946, 2nd edn.British Museum (Natural History), London.Google Scholar
Feng, Z., Cai, G. & Zheng, C. (1986) Mammals in Tibet. Science Press, Beijing [in Chinese].Google Scholar
Finn, F. (1929) Sterndale's Mammalia of India. Thacker, Spink, Calcutta & Simla.Google Scholar
FSI (1993) State of Forest Report. Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehra Dun.Google Scholar
FSI (1995) State of Forest Report. Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehra Dun.Google Scholar
FSI (1997) State of Forest Report. Forest Survey of India (FSI), Dehra Dun.Google Scholar
Gee, E.P. (1964) The Wild Life of India. Collins, London.Google Scholar
Glatston, A.R. (compiler) (1994) Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan for Procyonids and Ailurids:. The Red Panda, Olingos, Coatis, Raccoons, and their Relatives. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Green, M.J.B. (compiler) (1993) Nature Reserves of the Himalaya and the Mountains of Central Asia. IUCN & Oxford University Press, New Delhi.Google Scholar
Hilton-Taylor, C. (compiler) (2000) 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK.Google Scholar
Kock, R., Spala, P., Eva, J., Bircher, P., Ricketts, M. & Stevenson, M. (1989) New ideas for red panda diets. In Red Panda Biology (ed. Glatston, A.R.), pp. 57–71. SPB Academic Publishing, The Hague.Google Scholar
Kurt'en, B. & Anderson, E. (1980) Pleistocene Mammals of North America. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar
Lu, B., Glatston, A.R. & Princee, F.P.G. (1993) Demographic and genetic analysis of the studbook population of Ailurus Fulgens Styani. In Red or Lesser Panda Studbook, no. 7 (ed. Glatston, A.R.), pp. 30–36. Stichting Koninklijke Rotterdamsediergarde, Rotterdam.Google Scholar
Macdonald, D. (ed.) (1984) The Encyclopaedia of Mammals. 2 Volumes. George Allen & Unwin, London & Sidney.Google Scholar
Mahapatra, R. (1998) Beauty and biology: the Shangri-la. Down to Earth, 7, 27–37.Google Scholar
Martin, L.D. (1989) Fossil history of the terrestrial carnivora. In Carnivore Behaviour, Ecology and Evolution (ed. Gittleman, J. L.), pp. 536–568. Chapman & Hall, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Munro, G. (1969) Breeding the lesser panda in Bremen zoo, Germany. International Zoo News, 89, 281–283.Google Scholar
Prater, S.H. (1948) The Book of Indian Animals. Bombay Natural History Society, Bombay [reprinted with corrections, 1980].Google Scholar
Rabinowitz, A. & Khaing, S.T. (1998) Status of selected mammal species in northern Myanmar. Oryx, 32, 201–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberts, M. (1996) Biology of the red panda – general summary. In Proceedings of the Training Workshop: Conservation Management of Red Panda, pp. 7–42. Zoo Outreach Organisation & Central Zoo Authority, Coimbatore & Delhi.Google Scholar
Roberts, M. & Gittleman, J.L. (1984) Ailurus fulgens. Mammalian Species, 222, 1–8.Google Scholar
Sarich, V.M. (1976) Transferrin. Transactions of the Zoological Society of London, 33, 165–171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tedford, R.H. & Gustafson, E.P. (1977) First North American record of the extinct Parailurus. Nature, 265, 621–623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
TRAFFIC (IUCN/WWF) (1991) The Smuggling of Endangered Wildlife Across the Taiwan Strait. TRAFFIC International, Cambridge, UK.Google Scholar
Wang, M. (1989) Survey Reports on Habitat of Giant Pandas in China. Sichuan Forestry Bureau, Chengdu [in Chinese].Google Scholar
Warnell, K., Crissey, S. & Oftedal, O. (1989) Utilization of bamboo and other fiber sources in red panda diets. In Red Panda Biology (ed. Glatston, A.R.), pp. 51–56. SPB Academic Publlishing, The Hague.Google Scholar
Wei, F. (1997) Habitat selection, foraging and energetic strategies of giant and red pandas in Xiangling mountains. PhD thesis, Institute of Zoology. Chinese Academy of Sciences [in Chinese].Google Scholar
Wei, F., Feng, Z., Wang, Z. & Hu, J. (1998) Assessment on the current status of the red panda in China. Small Carnivore Conservation, 18, 1–4.Google Scholar
Yonzon, P.B. & Hunter, M.L. Jr (1991) Conservation of the red panda Ailurus fulgens. Biological Conservation, 57, 1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar