Nature conservation project red panda

 In ARTIS

ARTIS has been home to red pandas for decades. With their red fur, their bushy tails and their faces with striking features, including a white snout, these are eye-catching animals. The red panda – also known as the lesser panda – eats bamboo, just like its 'cousin', the giant panda. The red panda has been included in the European breeding programme for endangered species (EEP) for many years. The situation in zoos is relatively good, with some 400 red pandas in European zoos, and they regularly produce offspring. In the wild, however, there are serious problems. 

In the wild

Red pandas live in the Himalayas at elevations between 1,500 and 4,000 metres, in an area that stretches all the way from Nepal deep into China. The estimated population in this vast area is only 2,500 to 10,000 animals. Bamboo forests are crucial to the continued existence of the red panda. ARTIS supports the EEP Forest Guardian Programme in north-eastern Nepal. This project involves the local community and provides more efficient wood-burning ovens, for example, thus reducing the locals' need for wood to cook.

Organisation: EEP Forest Guardian Programma
Animal: red panda
Location: Nepal