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Threat to Red Panda
Red Pandas are classified as vulnerable. No reliable numbers exist for the total population, but it is threatened due to the fragmentation of its natural habitats, its small numbers, and its food specialization needs. In southwest China, the Red Panda is hunted for its fur, especially for its highly-valued bushy tail from which hats are produced. In those areas of China where the Red Panda lives, their fur is often used for local cultural ceremonies, and in weddings the bridegroom traditionally carries the hide. The "good-luck charm" Red Panda-tail hats are also used by Chinese newlyweds.
The continued clearing of the forests has also significantly reduced the population. It is now protected in all countries in which it lives, and the hunting of Red Pandas is illegal everywhere. Nevertheless, poaching continues and they are often illegally hunted and sold to zoos for dumping prices. The IUCN has mandated that small Pandas are a "threatened species" since 1996, but it is now listed as vulnerable.
The SREL DNA Lab at the University of Georgia has listed several key major threat indications. A 40% decrease in Red Panda populations has been reported in China over the last 50 years, and populations in western/Himalayan areas are considered to be lower. Red Pandas have a naturally low birth rate (usually single or twin births per year), and a high death rate in the wild.
Natural population subdivision by topography and ecology has been worsened by human encroachment, leading to severe fragmentation of the remaining wild population. For example, 40 animals in 4 groups share resources of a preserve in Nepal with 30,000 humans (only 6% of its 1710 km2 is preferred Red Panda habitat). Small groups of animals, with little opportunity for exchange between them, face the risk of inbreeding, decreased genetic diversity, and even extinction. The Red Panda is endangered due to habitat loss caused by deforestation, grazing, and farming. For example, government-encouraged cheese production for tourists in Nepal contributed to fuel wood consumption for the factory, overgrazing by chauri (a cattle-yak hybrid) impacting bamboo growth, intrusion by herders, and dogs often attacking cubs. Agricultural terracing is having a detrimental effect on the former Red Panda habitat in Nepal. The Red Panda is also poached for fur clothing, and for the illegal pet trade.
