Dr. Khan Visits Nepal with Red Panda Network

Dr. Shafkat Khan, Director of Conservation, took a trip to Nepal with the Red Panda Network. Read about his trip in his own words.

The Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium is a collaborating member of the SAFE (Saving Animals from Extinction) Red Panda program of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. This program unites 16 zoo partners in North America to contribute to the conservation of red pandas in the wild. The Zoo played a central role in convening these partners and is now co-leading the conservation activities of SAFE Red Panda.

For a successful conservation program, one needs to understand the scope of the conservation challenge and design the solutions accordingly. With the SAFE Red Panda program creating its conservation goals for the next three years, we needed to understand these aspects of red panda conservation. In the last two weeks of April, I was fortunate to spend time in Nepal with our partner there, Red Panda Network (RPN), to assess these challenges and conservation solutions.

In the first week of my time in Nepal, I offered a habitat restoration workshop to Red Panda Network’s conservation program personnel, where we examined the current challenges of restoration in red panda habitats.

In the high elevations of the eastern Himalayas where the red panda lives, habitat conversion breaks large contiguous forest habitats into smaller fragmented areas, making these smaller habitats less suitable for sustaining red pandas. Connecting these smaller patches is a good strategy for conservation not just of red pandas, but all wildlife that uses these forests. Habitat restoration efforts can include planting tree species able to tolerate harsh conditions and then planting tree species that red pandas prefer under an established canopy. This is a more sensible approach to habitat restoration.

The purpose of the field visit was to see the forest restoration sites and understand the needs for red panda conservation. In addition to visiting the restoration sites, I was fortunate to meet with the restoration committee of Jaubari village. The committee is an all-woman group and community-based efforts are the key to success in any conservation efforts. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn how RPN is collaborating with the community to make conservation outcomes more lasting.

You might be wondering if we saw any red pandas in the field. I wish! They are indeed elusive creatures and we encountered two tourist groups who had employed local guides to locate red pandas. The time of my visit was, however, the height of the dry season, so red pandas likely moved downslope to closer to ravines and water sources. As you see from the impressive slopes and large mountains in the photo, the terrain is quite challenging to traverse into the forests and see red pandas.

The understanding and discussions from the field visit will guide the SAFE Red Panda conservation efforts Your visits and support to the Zoo contribute directly to the red panda conservation efforts in which the Zoo is engaged. We hope you will be lucky enough to see a red panda in the wild. In case you can’t make the trek to the Himalayas, our red pandas Xia and Marcy at the Zoo are here to greet you and provide a gateway to the wonderful landscapes of the eastern Himalayas!