Red Panda Endangerment

By: Dylon Freerksen

Did you know that the species of Red Pandas is highly
endangered to this day?
Some Statistics
● Red Pandas have been listed as endangered since the year of 2008.
● The global population of Red Pandas to this day is roughly estimated at
10,000 individuals with a decreasing population since 2008.
● About only half of the area of potential land of 142,000 km 2 (55,000 mi2) is
actually being occupied, which is located in the Eastern Himalayas.
Facts About the Red Panda
● Red Pandas are just a little bigger than that of a domestic cat with a
bear-like body with thick russet fur.
● Red Pandas are known to be really skillful and acrobatic animals and
spend almost their whole life up in the trees.
● Red Pandas use their large, bushy tails to cover themselves in the winter
to stay warm and to keep their balance.
● Red Pandas are primarily herbivores and their name “Red Panda” comes
from the Nepali word “ponya”, meaning bamboo or plant eating animal.
Why They Matter and Some Threats
● In my opinion they are a really cool animal and up to this day they are
only about 10,000 remaining.
● They are losing some of their nesting trees and bamboo across a large
range in the land they in everyday due to their forest home being cleared.
● A lot of the time Red Pandas get killed because they accidentally end up in
a trap meant for other animals like wild pigs and deer.
● They are being poached on everyday by people from China and Myanmar
just for their fur to be made into pelts and I think that's ridiculous.
●
Have you ever wondered about the pregnancy of Red
Pandas?

I’ve done multiple projects on Red Pandas in the past and

I haven’t ever checked out the pregnancy of Red Pandas.
Pregnancy of Red Pandas
● Some scientist working with CREW have been studying the reproduction of Red
Pandas.
● It’s pretty difficult to perform ultrasounds for Red Pandas because it requires a
costly ultrasound machine, an animal training, and obviously a trained
ultrasonographer to perform the ultrasound.
● The scientists with CREW are trying to measure fecal hormone metabolites
which is also known as progesterone as an indicator of pregnancy.
● They tested this on two female Red Pandas with the names of Idgie and Bailey
and both pregnancies ended up diagnosed via ultrasound and as they expected
their fecal hormone metabolite analysis showed an increase in progesterone
concentrations after done breeding and ended up remaining elevated until after
they gave birth.
Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSehQsYU9h4
Citations
● Bray, Shasta. “Shasta Bray.” Cincinnati Zoo Blog, 28 Oct. 2016,
blog.cincinnatizoo.org/2014/12/17/can-progesterone-predict-pregnancy-in-red
-pandas/.
● Red Panda. www.worldwildlife.org/species/red-panda.
● Meek, Kristina. “Kristina Meek.” Cincinnati Zoo Blog, 17 Mar. 2017,
blog.cincinnatizoo.org/2016/09/17/international-red-panda-day-zoos-make-a-di
fference-for-red-pandas/.
● “An Update on Red Panda Conservation.” Seneca Park Zoo, 17 Sept. 2020,
senecaparkzoo.org/red-panda-conservation-at-the-zoo/.
Sources
● https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/red-panda
● http://blog.cincinnatizoo.org/2014/12/17/can-progesterone-predict-pregnancy
-in-red-pandas/
● http://blog.cincinnatizoo.org/2016/09/17/international-red-panda-day-zoos-ma
ke-a-difference-for-red-pandas/
● https://senecaparkzoo.org/red-panda-conservation-at-the-zoo/