Red Pandas (Ailurus fulgens & A. styani) Fact Sheet: Population & Conservation Status

Global population estimate

• Estimates vary, but thought to be less than 10,000 individuals (Glatston et al. 2015; Choudhury and Yonzon, personal communication)
  • Nocturnal habits and shyness make population estimates extremely difficult. Wei et al. (1999) estimated 3,000 - 7,000 total individuals in China, while Choudhury (2001) estimates 5,000 - 6,000 in India

Population structure

• Very low genetic diversity in Himalayan red panda (Ailurus fulgens) (Hu et al. 2020)
  • Of conservation concern

IUCN

• Endangered (2015 assessment) (Gladston et al. 2015)
  • Populations have "plausibly declined by 50% over the last three generations (estimated at 18 years) and this decline is projected to continue, and probably intensify, in the next three generations" (Glatston et al. 2015).

CITES

• Appendix I (UNEP 2019)
• China: about 46 reserves within red panda ranges (25,668 sq km)
  • 32 reserves in Sichuan – 3,000 - 3,4000 individuals
  • 8 reserves in Yunnan – 1,600 - 2,000 individuals
  • 6 reserves in Tibet – 1,400 - 1,600 individuals
• India: 20 reserves – 5,000 - 6,000 individuals
• Bhutan: 5 reserves
• Nepal: 7 reserves

Endangered Species Act

• Not listed

EU Wildlife Trade Regulations

• Annex A (listed 2017)

•  Predators
  • Leopards, dholes, Asian golden cats, Golden Eagles. Yellow-throated marten known to kill newborns.
• Limited food supply
  • Diet is usually limited to 1 or 2 species of bamboo
    • After flowering (once every 70 - 100 years), bamboo dies and it takes an average of 10 years for new shoots to regenerate
  • Competitors for bamboo: Assamese macaque, Stump-tailed macaque, Capped langur, Golden langur, Hoolock gibbon, Takin, Sambar, Elephant, Wild pig, Porcupine, Bamboo rats; Giant panda in Sichuan eats the same bamboo species but different parts of the bamboo (See Diet & Feeding section)
• Habitat degradation and fragmentation
  • Logging, firewood, clearing for farming, grazing of domestic stock, road construction
  • Red panda numbers may have decreased by as much as 40% over the last 50 years due to massive habitat loss
• In China
  • Poaching and hunting
  • Habitat loss and fragmentation
  • Inbreeding depression (Wei et al. 1998)
  • Cub mortality is high in areas surrounding cattle grazing activities, estimated at up to 74% (Yonzon, personal communication)
• In India
  • Human population explosion with demand for housing, farming, and firewood (Choudhury 2001)
  • Poaching in the Indian portion of its range (Choudhury 2001)
  • Road construction and logging
• Climate change
  • Global warming, drought and forest fires, unusual weather patterns
• Lack of enforcement of wildlife laws within reserves
• Growth of human population within the Red panda's range; human population has almost doubled between 1971 and 1991

Community-based conservation initiatives are doing a lot to help the endangered red panda.

Image credit: © San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. All rights reserved.

What are zoos doing to protect red pandas in the wild?

Find out as the San Diego Zoo celebrates Red Panda Day.

© San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance. All rights reserved.

Choudhury (2001)
Wang (2008)
Wei et al. (1999)