Red Pandas (Ailurus fulgens & A. styani) Fact Sheet: Distribution & Habitat

• Himalayan Mountains, Nepal, India, Bhutan, China, and Myanmar; one isolated population in Meghalaya Plateau of northeastern India (Choudhury 2001)
• One population: Himalayas – Tibet and northwestern Yunnan (China)
• Another population: Restricted to China's Sichuan and northeastern Yunnan, northern Burma and Tibet

• Temperate, sub-tropical forests of mixed deciduous-coniferous species: Abies, Tsunga, Aesculus, Juglans, Quercus and Acer
• Thick bamboo / shrubby understory dominated by: Phyllostachys, Sinarundinaria, Thamnocalamus, Chimonobambusa, and Qionzhuea
• Altitudinal range of 1500 - 4800 m
  • Exception is Meghalaya, 700 - 1400 m
  • Area of occupancy is essentially equivalent to suitable habitat. Habitat in lower areas is badly degraded.
• Proximity to water may be an important requirement. In one national park, 90% of droppings were found within 100 m of the nearest water source (Yonzon & Hunter 1991)
• In China – 3 provinces: 76,245 sq km potential habitat (25,668 sq km are protected in 46 reserves)
  • Sichuan: 35,008 sq km (32 reserves = 16,121 sq km), 3,000 - 3,400 Red pandas
  • Yunnan: 21,658 sq km (8 reserves = 7,189 sq km), 1,600 - 2,000 Red pandas
  • Tibet: 9,500 sq km (6 reserves = 2,357 sq km), 1,400 - 1,600 Red pandas
• In India: 25,000 sq km potential habitat
  • Arunchal Pradesh – 11,300 sq km used
  • Meghalaya – 300 sq km used
  • Sikkim – 800 sq km used
  • West Bengal – 100 sq km used
• In Nepal: 16,700 sq km potential habitat, 8,200 sq km used
• In Bhutan: 10,900 sq km potential habitat, 5,400 sq km used
• In Myanmar: 13,000 sq km potential habitat, 6,400 sq km used
• Other mammal species sharing this habitat: Gray langur, dhole, Himalayan black bear, Yellow-throated marten, leopard, red deer, Alpine musk deer, Himalayan goral, Spotted giant flying squirrel, Eurasian shrew. Overlaps with the Giant panda in Sichuan, China (Wei, 2000).

Red pandas occur in southeast Asia, from China to western Nepal.

Adapted from www.d-maps.com according to IUCN fact sheet. Click here or on map for detailed distribution (IUCN).

Choudhury (2001)
Roberts & Gittleman (1984)
Wang (2008)
Wei & Zhang (2011)
Yonzon & Hunter (1991)