It’s International Red Panda Day!
During the third Saturday of September each year, Red Pandas take centre stage to raise awareness for their declining numbers and the need for support in the aid to help save the species. Within 20 years our planet has seen the loss of half of its wild red pandas, from the decline of habitats due to human interference and deforestation. International Red Panda Day hopes to encourage people to learn about these beautiful creatures and save the biome in which they live. Tilly and ‘Little Red’ our red panda’s here at Paradise Wildlife Park have recently taken the world by storm and become excellent advocates for the species. They have raised an incredible amount of awareness for red panda’s and their habitats.
Red Panda’s are classed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as within the last 20 years we have seen the loss of over half the red panda species. This is due to the decline of habitats from human interference including deforestation. Red Pandas live in mountain forests of the Himalayas, at high altitudes due to their arboreal nature with plenty of bamboo. Their diet consists of almost solely bamboo and can eat around 20,000 bamboo leaves a day. Red pandas were discovered in 1825, 48 years prior to the more familiar known black and white pandas. Even though they are not related, they both hold the name of panda; a mispronunciation of the Nepalese word ‘Ponya’, which means ‘eater of bamboo’. However, due to the exploitation of forest resources and fragmentation, accessibility to bamboo and trees for arboreal living is becoming increasingly more scarce.
Here at Hertfordshire’s number one zoo – Paradise Wildlife Park, our red panda Tilly and cub ‘Little Red’ acts as ambassadors for their wild counterparts, helping to educate the public on the species. This is done through educational talks provided by our keepers daily at our red panda habitat as well as, awareness days throughout the year such as International Red Panda Day.. Tilly and the cub are internet superstars who have gained love across the globe with their acrobatic antics and adorable characteristics helping to spread awareness in the need of protecting red pandas.
Our conservation partner Red Panda Network has become a world leader in efforts to protect red pandas and their habitat. The year 2010 saw the launch of International Red Panda Day and has since grown to become a day participated by a wide variety of zoos in red panda activities to help raise awareness for this endangered species. The team at Red Panda Network class themselves as guardians of the forest as they help the sustainable livelihoods of the local communities that surround the red panda forest biomes including teaching about the species and the ecosystem around them.
Did you know you can aid the support of the species by adopting our red panda’s, you can also meet our red panda’s at our Meet the Red Panda’s!
Adopt A Red Panda
