Review The Vulnerable red panda Ailurus fulgens in Bhutan: distribution, conservation status and management recommendations S ANGAY D ORJI,RAJANATHAN R AJARATNAM and K ARL V ERNES Abstract The red panda Ailurus fulgens is categorized Introduction as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Pressurized by an expanding human population, it is mainly threatened he red panda Ailurus fulgens is a threatened mammal by habitat destruction, with , 10,000 mature individuals Trestricted to temperate and sub-tropical forests of remaining. The red panda has been studied in India, China, the eastern Himalayas, with the exception of a tropical 2001 Nepal and, to a lesser extent, Myanmar, but no research has forest population in Meghalaya, India (Choudhury, ). 82 been published on this species in Bhutan. Here, we report on Its distribution ranges from western Nepal ( °E) into India, the current distribution and conservation status of the red Bhutan and northern Myanmar through to the Minshan panda in Bhutan using information gathered from field Mountains and upper Min Valley of Sichuan Province in 104 1999 surveys, interviews and unpublished reports. Red pandas are south-central China ( °E) (Wei et al., c; Choudhury, 2001 1 most common at 2,400–3,700 m altitude in fir Abies densa ; Fig. ). The red panda occurs as two subspecies forests with an undergrowth of bamboo. They occur in most that are biogeographically separated by the Salween 2001 national parks and associated biological corridors within (Nu Jiang) River in China (Choudhury, ; Wang et al., 2008 Bhutan’s protected area network, overlapping with a rural ). A. f. fulgens occurs in the west in Bhutan, Nepal, human population that is undergoing increased socio- India, northern Myanmar and China (southern Tibet and economic development. Although culturally respected, red western Yunnan) and A. f. styani occurs in the east, pandas face threats from road construction, harvesting in south-central China (Sichuan and Yunnan). The of timber, bamboo and minor forest products, livestock distribution of the red panda is disjunct across this range 1984 grazing, inefficiently managed tourism, and domestic dogs. (Roberts & Gittleman, ). The population on the We believe conservation of red pandas in Bhutan requires Meghalaya Plateau of north-eastern India is isolated by 2001 (1) inclusion of ecologically sound principles into future the Brahmaputra River (Choudhury, ), and local development, (2) implementation of programmes that extinctions have been reported in Guizhou, Gansu, improve rural socio-economy through ecotourism and Shaanxi and Qinghai provinces of China (Wei et al., 1999 cultivation of appropriate cash crops, (3) development of c). In Langtang National Park, Nepal, the red panda 1991 education programmes that raise awareness of red pandas persists in four subpopulations (Yonzon et al., ). for rural people, (4) management of rural dog populations, In the eastern Himalayas the red panda lives at altitudes 1 500–4 800 2001 ffi (5) greater capacity building for wildlife managers, and (6) of , , m (Choudhury, ), with an a nity for more ecological research. habitats with dense bamboo undergrowth (Choudhury, 2001; Zhang et al., 2006). They mainly feed on bamboo, with Keywords Ailurus fulgens, bamboo, Bhutan, eastern supplements of fruit, roots, succulent grasses, mushrooms, Himalayas, protected areas, red panda, temperate conifer- acorns and lichens, and occasional bird eggs, insects and ous forest, wildlife management grubs (Reid et al., 1991; Yonzon & Hunter, 1991b; Pradhan et al., 2001a; Nath & Das, 2010). Fallen logs, tree stumps and shrubs are important habitat elements for red pandas (Pradhan et al., 2001a; Zhang et al., 2006), providing substrates suitable for defecation (Pradhan et al., 2001a) and structural access to bamboo leaves (Johnson et al., 1988; SANGAY DORJI* and KARL VERNES Ecosystem Management, University of New Reid et al., 1991; Wei et al., 1999c). Water availability also England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia seems to be important, to supplement the low water content RAJANATHAN RAJARATNAM (Corresponding author) Geography and Planning, of bamboo leaves (Yonzon & Hunter, 1991b; Pradhan et al., University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. E-mail 2001 [email protected] a). Choudhury (2001) estimated a global red panda *Also at: Wildlife Conservation Division, Department of Forests and Park 16 000–20 000 Services, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Bhutan population of , , based on the lowest recorded 4 4 2 Received 6 January 2011. Revision requested 7 March 2011. density of one individual per . km in Langtang Accepted 5 April 2011. National Park, Nepal (Yonzon & Hunter, 1987). He © 2012 Fauna & Flora International, Oryx, 46(4), 536–543 doi:10.1017/S0030605311000780 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.8, on 25 Sep 2021 at 09:37:35, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605311000780 The red panda of Bhutan 537 90° 100° 110° 30°N 30° FIG. 1 Distribution of the red panda 20° Ailurus fulgens in South Asia (modified from Choudhury, 2001), showing locations covered by published research focusing on the species and the locations 90° 100° 20°E of published wildlife surveys that noted the species’ presence. further subdivided this estimate among the range Information on the red panda in Myanmar is based solely countries: 5,000–6,000 in India, c. 6,000–7,000 in China, on a note in Rabinowitz & Khaing’s(1998) report on the and a combined population of c. 5,000–7,000 across status of mammals. Nepal, Myanmar and Bhutan. However, Wang et al. Here we report on the distribution and conservation (2008) estimated the global population to be , 10,000 status of the red panda in Bhutan and make recom- mature individuals. mendations for appropriate conservation measures. This The red panda is threatened by habitat loss and research, the first on the red panda in the country, is fragmentation resulting from cumulative overuse of re- important for conservation programmes and management sources by an expanding human population (Liang & strategies in Bhutan as well as for the global knowledge on Zhang, 1987; Yonzon & Hunter, 1991b; Glatston, 1994;Wei this Vulnerable species. et al., 1999c; Choudhury, 2001; Pradhan et al., 2001a; 2003 2004 2008 Williams, ; Han & Hu, ; Yang, ; Nath & Das, Methods 2010). Ancillary threats include poaching, domestic dogs, climate change, and killing by local people and poachers We assessed the distribution and status of the red panda in (Yonzon & Hunter, 1991b; Glatston, 1994; Rabinowitz & Bhutan from field surveys, biodiversity survey and manage- Khaing, 1998; Wei et al., 1999c; Choudhury, 2001). The ment reports, government documents, and interviews species is categorized as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List with national park residents and park staff. Field surveys, (Wang et al., 2008) based on the low global population comprising interviews and ecological monitoring, were estimate and a projected decline in numbers of . 10%over conducted between 2007 and 2009 and provided presence– the next three generations (estimated at 30 years). It is also absence data on the red panda in two of Bhutan’s protected listed in Appendix I of CITES (CITES, 2010) and protected areas: Thrumshingla and Jigme Dorji National Parks. by law in all range countries. We interviewed 664 park residents from various occu- Published information on the red panda is limited to pational groups comprising farmers, herders, road studies conducted in India, China and Nepal. Choudhury workers, school children, teachers, civil servants, monks, (2001) discussed the global distribution and population and park and forestry officials. We also interviewed an status of the red panda with special reference to India. additional 48 officials from other national parks. Interviews There have been studies in China on habitat selection, gathered location data on red pandas and assessed cultural diet, reproduction, home range, phylogeny, distribution significance and conservation threats. Based on preliminary and conservation status (Gittleman, 1988; Johnson et al., surveys over 127 days we established and monitored plots 1988; Reid et al., 1991; Wei et al., 1999a,b,c,d, 2000a,b;Li (20 × 20 m) in potential red panda habitat in Thrumshingla et al., 2005; Jiandong et al., 2006; Zhang et al., 2006, 2009). National Park (n 5 87) and Jigme Dorji National Park Additional studies on ecology, distribution and population (n 5 64) over a further 178 days to detect red pandas by status of the red panda have been carried out in sightings and droppings. In addition to our study sites we India and Nepal (Yonzon et al., 1991; Yonzon & Hunter, also conducted surveys in several other potential red 1991a,b; Choudhury, 2001; Pradhan et al., 2001a,b; Williams, panda areas: Ramina, Dolamkencho and Jabisa in Jigme 2003; Mahato, 2004; Adhikari, 2010; Nath & Das, 2010). Dorji National Park; Chungphel, Bim, Tharpaling, © 2012 Fauna & Flora International, Oryx, 46(4), 536–543 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.8, on 25 Sep 2021 at 09:37:35, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605311000780 538 S. Dorji et al. FIG. 2 Distribution of the red panda within the protected area system of Bhutan. TSNR, Toorsa Strict Nature Reserve; JDNP, Jigme Dorji National Park; WCP, Wangchuck Centennial Park; BWS,