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Red
Panda to be bred in Sikkim by
Tashi Pradhan Gangtok:
Keen to save one of nature's rarest and most beautiful animals, the Red Panda,
the Sikkim Himalayan Zoological Park (SHZP), in Gangtok, has embarked on a breeding
and conservation programme. The red panda (Ailurus Fulgens) is the state animal
of Sikkim, found in six protected areas of the state. This animal is facing extinction
due to habitat loss caused by construction activity and over grazing. The zoo
has been working on the programme since 1997 following the arrival of a pair of
red panda at Gangtok Zoo from the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park (PNHZP),
in Darjeeling. "Red Panda's being the state animal of Sikkim, and also an endangered
species of global importance, so high precautions have been taken for the conservation
of these Red Pandas in the Himalayan Zoological Park. The Forest Department of
the Government of Sikkim is effortlessly trying to save these pandas in the wild
as well as in the captive condition. After breeding here in the Himalayan Zoological
Park, we are going to release them in their natural habitat," said Madan K.S.
Shankar, Deputy Director, Zoo and Wildlife, SHZP. The zoo has obtained four pandas,
two pairs from the wild as part of the breeding programme. One of the female panda
has started to prepare her bedding, in anticipation of delivering her cubs. The
SHZP aims to collect a gene pool from the wild population. "We have paired both
the male and the female from the wild. So, in the coming days, whatever offspring's
we have, we will have captive breed from the wild population," added Shankar.
The zoological park aims to restock panda habitats. The SHZP has already been
identified as the most promising zoo for the red panda conservation programme,
as it is favourably located next to a panda habitat containing the animal's staple
diet bamboo. Climatically, the zoo is suitable for red pandas giving hope to forest
officials. -Jun
8, 2009 Go
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