International Red Panda Day is celebrated every year on the third Saturday of September to support Red Panda conservation. It is a day to celebrate the Himalayan Mountains’ elusive Firefox and generate much-needed awareness about the species.
Taking a step forward in the conservation efforts, SBI Foundation and WWF India entered into a partnership to generate fine-scale information on the species at a transboundary level and engage with communities in safeguarding key habitats of the Red Panda in the Khangchendzonga landscape of Sikkim and West Bengal. SBI Foundation is the CSR arm of the State Bank of India.
An event was organised at the Himalayan Zoological Park in Gangtok to celebrate International Red Panda Day. This Zoological Park is the first-of-its-kind, where animals are kept in their natural habitat.
Red Panda
The red panda (Ailurus fulgens), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It has dense reddish-brown fur with a black belly and legs, white-lined ears, a mostly white muzzle and a ringed tail. It is well adapted to climbing due to its flexible joints and curved semi-retractile claws. The species has been listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2015. It is protected in all range countries.
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Carnivora
- Family: Ailuridae
- Genus: Ailurus
F. Cuvier, 1825 - Species: A. fulgens