Conservation of Red Pandas

In News

According to scientists, identifying corridors is a key step in the conservation of the Red Pandas.

In-Detail

• According to scientists, identifying and monitoring corridors is the key step in the conservation of the red pandas in the Himalayan region.
• Recently, scientists classified red pandas into two phylogenic species.
• The scientists described the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh as a potential boundary for the species divergence between the Chinese red panda (Ailurus styani) and the Himalayan red panda (Ailurus fulgens).
• The species are grouped under two different clusters based on genomic DNA analyses of about 132 fecal samples collected from north West Bengal, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
• The Himalayan red pandas are represented as Clad1 was formed by the inclusion of samples from the north West Bengal, Sikkim, Central Arunachal Pradesh and South Tibet.
• Chinese red pandas are represented as Clad2 was formed by the inclusion of the samples from Dibang valley of eastern Arunachal Pradesh, India and Southwest China.
• The International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified red pandas as endangered species.
• The population of red pandas have declined by 50% in 20 years.
• The regions were the two species found are the eastern and north-eastern Himalayan subalpine forests and the eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests that fall in China, Nepal, Bhutan, India and northern Myanmar.
• September 19 is marked as International Red Panda Day.
• There are about 2500 red pandas in the wild, of which one third are in India.
• The scientists with the Centre for DNA Taxonomy and Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) said that the survey in the Kanchenjunga landscapes emphasized the need for the identification of biological corridors and their monitoring for the conservation of the species.
• The study of biological corridors helps in studying habitat degradation, anthropogenic pressure and also the availability of bamboos in the habitat.