Red panda  (Ailurus fulgens)

Red pandas have suffered from habitat loss throughout their range; forests have been cleared for timber extraction, agriculture and development. In China the species is thought to have undergone a decline of around 40% over the last 50 years (8) and A. fulgens fulgens is equally threatened in Nepal (9). The panda has also been exploited for its pelt; hats made from the lustrous fur are still desired in Yunnan in China for newlyweds, as it traditionally symbolises a happy marriage (7).

The red panda is protected in all of the countries in which it is found with the exception of Myanmar (5), and it is listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) (3). In China the species occurs within many of the reserves that were established to protect the giant panda (5). An international breeding programme exists, and red pandas are bred in more than 30 zoos world wide; in North America alone the captive population was 182 individuals in 2001 and these are maintained and managed under the Species Survival Plan (SSP) (5 + 6). Protection of the remaining habitat of this appealing and unobtrusive mammal is the key to the survival of the already rare red panda.