Encounters with the Red Panda, the Elusive Bear-Cat of the Himalayas
Photo StoryPublished : Mar 07, 2022Updated : Jul 26, 2023
Nestled in the oak and bamboo forests of the Eastern Himalayas, red pandas are an enigmatic and resilient species
Text by: Neha Sumitran
Nestled in the oak and bamboo forests of the Eastern Himalayas, red pandas are an enigmatic and resilient species
It was a bright, sunny day in Singalila National Park, and Sunita Pradhan was walking through the forest, about six months into her study of red pandas in the region. Her goal was to study the animals in their natural habitat and estimate their numbers in the region, but she was yet to see one. “I remember being questioned by my seniors about why I hadn’t seen the species,” she tells me over a phone call, chuckling over her memories from 1992. “I had begun to think that maybe, this area doesn’t have any pandas.”
But then she came upon a rivulet, with “water shimmering in the sunlight,” and near the stream was a rhododendron tree with a bright, red panda perched on a branch. “I had seen them in captivity because I had worked with pandas in zoos, but when I saw one in the wild, it was a completely different experience,” she says. “It looked so vibrant, healthy and calm, just sitting on the branch. It was so serene.”
Having the chance to observe the red panda in this way is a rare opportunity, for they are elusive creatures that spend most of their time in tree canopies, foraging for food. Red pandas(Ailurus fulgens) have a luxurious auburn coat and a thick tail that helps them keep their balance on treetops. In size, they are close to racoons, with similar white markings on their face.
Red pandas are creatures of the mountains, found in the forests of India, Nepal, Bhutan and the northern mountains of Myanmar and southern China. According to WWF, they “thrive best at 2,200-4,800m, in mixed deciduous and conifer forests with dense understories of bamboo.”
In India, they are found in Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and West Bengal, with some past sightings in Meghalaya. “Within each state, the population depends on the size of the red-panda habitat there,” explains Pradhan, whose work now focuses on conserving red panda habitat. “West Bengal has a really small chunk of red panda habitat, while Arunachal Pradesh has the biggest, followed by Sikkim.”
Red pandas are arboreal creatures found in the Eastern Himalayas of India. Their habitat encompasses sub-tropical, temperate, and some tropical forest areas. Mostly, they are found in “upper oak forests, mixed temperate forests, and sub-alpine kind of forest,” says Pradhan. “These habitats have huge trees, like oak, silver fir, and magnolia. Big, tall trees are very important to the species.” Photo: Sourav Mondal
The lush, red and black fur of the red panda works as camouflage in the oak and fir forests where they are found. “It’s quite impressive how their fur blends into the mossy green-orange foliage of the jungles,” says Moumita Chakraborty, who has been studying the behaviour and ecology of the species in Sikkim. “This gives them protection from other animals.” Photo: Shivang Mehta
Like many arboreal creatures, red pandas have long, bushy tails to help them maintain balance on slender branches high in the canopy. Their tail also provides warmth, and in cold weather, they regularly nap with their tails wrapped around their bodies. Photo: Sourav Mondal
Red pandas are equipped with short, sharp claws, which they use to climb up and down tree trunks. “They sit, eat, and poop in the trees,” explains Chakraborty, “so these morphological adaptations are very helpful to them”. Photo: Sourav Mondal
The paws of the red panda are covered with matted hair, which provides additional warmth in the cold Himalayan winters. “This feature likely represents an adaptation for walking on snow and other cold substrates, as in the Tibetan sand fox and polar bear,” writes Angela R Glatston in her book Red Panda, Biology and Conservation of the First Panda. Photo: Sourav Mondal
Red pandas have all the characteristics of a carnivore but do not eat meat. “They have canine teeth and a very short gut,” says Pradhan, “and yet, they eat bamboo leaves. They also have pseudo thumbs, developed to hold bamboo stems.” Photo: Sourav Mondal
Over 80 per cent of the red panda’s diet comes from bamboo, and there are many varieties in the region. Through her study, Pradhan found that “greater bamboo cover, bamboo height, and the overhead canopy cover emerged as important habitat components in sites used by red pandas.” Photo: Shivang Mehta
In addition to bamboo, Pradhan says that red pandas eat some varieties of mushrooms, leaves of other trees, and fruit, “such as the actinidia species, which is like a wild kiwi”. Their diet changes seasonally and according to the resources in their habitat.Photo: Dhritiman Mukherjee
Red pandas are solitary creatures that come together during the breeding season. “Breeding happens between December and February,” says Pradhan. “We’ve seen them nesting in hollows of large, old-growth trees. They take leaves and twigs into the hollow and give birth there around June-July, in the monsoon.” Video: Sourav Mondal
Cubs accompany mothers for a year, after which they disperse, and the mother resumes her solitary lifestyle, till the next breeding season. Pradhan says the role of the males is hard to say, as it is not easy to make out the difference between males and females. “Even in the wild, when we saw a mother and cubs, we knew it was the mother because we saw her suckling.” Photo: Sourav Mondal
In protected areas like Singalila, where red pandas live, ecotourism is one of the most important initiatives. It has created livelihoods for local people but also put some pressure on the surrounding habitat. “In 1993-94, the area would get around 1,500 people per year. And it was around 10,000 in 2019, just before Covid struck,” says Pradhan. Photo: Dhritiman Mukherjee
According to Pradhan, about 60 per cent of India’s red pandas live outside protected areas, in managed landscapes. “This is happening in Sikkim and Darjeeling, so this is where conservation attention is needed,” says Pradhan. “These areas are often similar in landscape to the protected areas, and on the fringes of these zones, but they are outside the purview of the conservation paradigm, often on personal property.” Photo: Shivang Mehta
Pradhan believes there is a great opportunity for ecotourism and conservation to go hand in hand. “In Singalila, there are people that take travellers on walks to see the panda,” she says, “and because of the work that they do, they are also monitoring the species, so they know when there are births and mating. If people see how lucrative it can be for them to conserve their habitat, they will do it.” Photo: Dhritiman Mukherjee
The increase in human activity has led to the fragmentation of the panda’s contiguous habitat and disturbances to their movement. “They are a very shy species,” says Pradhan. “But they are okay with humans, as long as they are not disturbed. They just sit where they are, staring at you calmly.” Photo: Sourav Mondal
The red panda’s temperament and striking looks are among the reasons why the species was heavily poached a few decades ago. “There used to be a lot of trapping of the red pandas for zoos abroad, but that has stopped,” says Pradhan. “There are still some reports of hunting, but that has reduced drastically.” Photo: Sourav Mondal
With a little space of their own, Pradhan believes that red pandas and humans could co-exist quite peacefully. “The idea isn’t to stop all development for conservation,” she says, “but we could do it for the benefit of all species involved. It’s such a lovely animal that I don’t want to lose it.” Photo: Sourav Mondal
About the contributor
Neha Sumitran
spends her days gardening, cooking, and writing about food, biodiversity, and sustainable living in the Palani Hills of Tamil Nadu. She Instagrams @nehasumitran.
