Red pandas are classified as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List, with fewer than 10,000 individuals left in the wild. This is primarily due to habitat loss in their Himalayan home caused by the felling of trees for firewood and construction materials and to create cropland. Their habitat is also being increasingly fragmented due to construction of roads. This disrupts natural genetic exchange between separate populations, resulting in an increased risk of inbreeding and genetic diseases, as well as lower reproduction rates because of the physical isolation of the individual animals.

Berlin’s zoos are supporting measures to help protect the red panda in the mountain forests of Nepal. To help combat the decline in numbers through loss of habitat, project workers in the Red Panda Network are developing alternative sources of income for local people in an attempt to ease the strain on the remaining woodland.

More information about red pandas and our project partner can be found here.