Habre, the Red Panda of Nepal

Fun fact: Nepal’s Red Panda may seem to be named after the large black and white bears known as Pandas, but the truth is it’s the other way around! Pandas are named after the small furry creature.

Red pandas sleep 17 hours a day and are nocturnal and crepuscular (active during twilight hours), which makes them quite difficult to track. They are native to the eastern Himalayas - and live in trees, and feed on bamboo as well as eggs, birds, and insects, they are solitary animals active in dusk and dawn.  

In Nepal, red pandas are called “Habre”.

Nepal holds the single-largest red panda habitat of 22,400 Km2, while the other three countries with Red Panda populations China, India, and Bhutan only make 19,700 km2. 

Sadly, as with much of our world's wildlife, the Red Panda population in Nepal is dwindling. 

Even though Nepal is well known for doubling its tiger population and growing its snow leopard population, red pandas seem to be going extinct. Nepal's Red Pandas population has decreased 50% over the last three generations.

Nepal a country renowned for growing its forest coverage continues to suffer from a human-wildlife conflict, red pandas are shy creatures that don’t attack humans unless truly threatened. 

In Nepal, there are cases where people have been arrested with red panda hide between 2008 to 2018, 121 red panda pelts were confiscated. The major contributors to poaching are unemployment and lack of education.

In 2007, a community-based conservation program was launched to prevent the extinction of red pandas, but clearly more work needs to be done. 

14 community forests in an area called Taplejung temporarily banned entry between July 2022 to mid-September 2022. This was due to the Red panda breeding season. 

Conservationists learned that when a mother panda finds her habitat touched by humans- she tends to move with her cubs, frequent location change is not suitable for cubs since it leads to their death in some cases.

In 2018, a team of Zoologist led by Ganesh Ghimire with funding from the Rufford Foundation (UK) was able to record a video of Red Pandas strolling in their habitat near Naphada River in the jungle of Lekali, this was the first time evidence of red pandas was found in Lamjung district.

Recently the  “Red Panda House”  has started construction by Dutch conservationist and architect Anne Feenstra and her Nepali colleague Sapana Shakya near Taplejung airport. The space will provide accommodation and dining for trekkers, researchers, conservationists, students, and other visitors. 

Conservationists need to focus on increasing the Red Pandas population. This is a story that is slowly expanding in Nepal and will become more significant in the coming years.