The reason why the Red Pandas are endangered is human acts like Poaching, deforestation accidental trappings, and the illegal pet trade. It is NOT the natural predators. Now there are just 10,000 all around the world.
Red pandas are very cute and innocent animals that spend their whole life living in the trees. They eat the leaves and branches of the plants. Primarily they are herbivores and spend most of their time climbing the trees.
They have very powerful jaws and teeth for protecting themselves from different predators. People love to keep them as their pets but their care is not an easy task.
They do have a long bushy tail which keeps them balancing while climbing the trees and it also protects them in the cold weather as they cover themselves with it.
Red pandas are tree-dwelling mammals native to the temperate forests of the Himalayas. Around 50% of the red pandas are found in the Eastern Himalayas.
Because of their interesting reddish fur, striped tails, and expressive faces, they are very popular animals in Asia and have been featured in cartoons, as toys, and as mascots.
But the sad part is that they are becoming endangered species throughout the world. It does not involve the predators but involves human acts like Poaching, deforestation accidental trappings, and the illegal pet trade. In 2015 there were just 10,000 in the wild which is a 50 percent drop since 1997.
- Struggles with deforestation; Like the other animals, loss of habitat is one of the main reasons for red pandas. Himalayas ’ forests are cut down at an alarming rate each year.
Usually, this is being done to logging operations or to convert the forested area into farmland where crops can be grown.
Even they are partially cut down but it affects a lot of the population of the red pandas because they live eat and sleep on the trees and once they are cut down then they will not have options to move and stay.
This factor has contributed a lot to making the red pandas an endangered species.
Why Are Red Pandas Getting Killed By Humans?
Most of the red pandas are getting killed. This is because of their reddish fur which attracts a lot of people towards them. So people make red pandas their prime targets and sell their pelts for profits.
In some of the rural areas, hats were being made from the red panda fur which was traditionally worn as a good luck sign for special occasions.
Then actions were being taken and made it illegal but some of the people got stuck with that idea and still kill them for making hats.
Poachers also kill the red pandas due to the mistaken belief that certain red pandas’ body parts are used in making medicinal properties.
Afterward, governments made the selling and buying those medicines that are being made from red pandas illegal.
If you are concerned about fashion or medicine then you should know this fact that it is illegal to buy or sell the red panda or any of its body parts of it.
Most of the time they are being killed and that reason have contributed a lot to decrease the population of red pandas.
Are All Types of Gorillas Endangered?
Different types of gorillas and their endangerment vary. The Eastern Gorilla, with its two subspecies, the Mountain Gorilla and the Grauer’s Gorilla, is listed as critically endangered. The Western Gorilla, including the Cross River Gorilla and the Western Lowland Gorilla, is endangered. The Gorilla Taxon Advisory Group is working towards their conservation.
What Happens If Red Pandas Go Extinct?
Red Pandas’ extinction would affect nature in many ways.
- First of all their extinction would affect those animals or predators that rely on them.
- Second thing is that they eat bamboo and by doing this they also control quantity.
- Once the red pandas go to extinction the bamboo can grow out of control and there will be less place for all the other plants.
- So, if they go to extinction then they will be disturbing the food cycle as well.
How Many Red Pandas Get Killed Each Year?
This is hard to say but according to animalcorner.org Around 10,000 pandas die each year and 7000 of the 10,000 die because of deforestation. 1,000 red pandas are killed for getting the fur and body parts out of them. If this rate will keep on increasing, they will go to extinction soon.
Personally, I find that this number is very high compared to the total population of Red Pandas (10.000). 1.000 and 700 sounds more correct. But I haven’t been able to verify the numbers from anywhere yet.
How can we help the red pandas from being endangered?
What we can do to save the red pandas from becoming extinct is, we can spread awareness among the people. We can donate and raise the funds and we can also take the part in ecotourism. The WWF is also working to protect them. The major issue is deforestation and that needs to be resolved. We should stop cutting down the trees so that every animal can live happily in their habitat as we are living in ours.
