International Red Panda Day | 22 Sep 2025

International Red Panda Day is observed on the 3rd Saturday in September each year to raise awareness about the endangered Red Panda and galvanise global conservation efforts.

• About: The Red Panda (also called the Firefox, Lesser Panda, or Red Cat-Bear) is found across the Himalayas, from Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, North Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, northern Myanmar to China’s Sichuan and Yunnan provinces.
  • The Great Bend of the Brahmaputra divides their population into the Himalayan Red Panda and the Chinese Red Panda. 
  • Red Panda prefers altitudes of 2,200–4,800 m in mixed deciduous & conifer forests with bamboo understory.
• Cultural Significance: Red Panda is declared as Sikkim’s state animal in the 1990s, and as the mascot of the Darjeeling Tea Festival. 
• Ecological Role: Primarily bamboo-dependent, but also eats plants and small animals. It undergoes torpor (hibernation) in winter.
• Conservation Status: The Red Panda is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, included in Appendix I of CITES, and is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 in India.
  • Conservation Efforts: Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park (Darjeeling) initiated a captive breeding programme in the 1990s.
• Major Threats: Habitat loss, poaching, illegal pet trade, linear infrastructure, food competition (with livestock and wild species), and inbreeding.
  • Illegal Trafficking: Reported cases in Singalila and Neora Valley National Parks (North Bengal).