Key Partnerships & Local Action

The SAFE (Saving Animals From Extinction) Red Panda Program represents a coordinated effort among Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) member institutions to support the conservation and recovery of red pandas.

This program brings together more than 35 institutions who collaborate to conserve red pandas and their habitats in the Himalayan mountains of South Asia.

Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium staff are key members in the SAFE Red Panda, co-leading Conservation, Public Engagement, and Wildlife Health workgroups. Through this program, our organization leads a dynamic group of conservationists working on saving wildlife and their habitats.

The Need for Conservation

The red panda is a diet and habitat specialist and has a narrow ecological niche. This makes them more vulnerable to climate change, as well as habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation. Panda populations in its home range of Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar, and southern China dropped by about 50% in the last two decades.

Population growth in impoverished communities and development in Nepal is fueling the decimation of red panda habitat. The Zoo’s partnership with the Red Panda Network works toward a solution of getting people to value the forest and providing economic benefits to them.

What You Can Do

Every time you visit or donate to the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium, you help us take care of our resident animals and their counterparts in the wild. You can also check our food and enrichment item wish list for our resident animals.

Did you know: bamboo comprises the majority of the red panda’s diet in the wild and in zoos. The Pittsburgh Zoo grows enough bamboo on its grounds to feed its two red pandas, as well as other Zoo animals!