The Japanese TV network NHK showed an updated documentary about the release of red pandas in the Singhalila range, along the border between Nepal and the Indian district of Darjeeling, near one of the project areas where Red Panda Network works to conserve the unprotected habitat on the Nepalese side. It aired for the first time in Japan at the end of June 2012.
Red Panda Network advised the TV producers on many aspects of red panda science, behavior, and conservation.
You can see pictures from the film on the NHK website.
For those who read Japanese and saw Red Panda Network’s name in the end credit roll of the film it might have been the first time they heard about RPN. A great way for us to reach out to new audiences.
NHK’s TV adaptation is based on footage filmed by Naresh and Rajesh Bedi during a period of about 14 months in 2005/2006 for their award-winning documentary “Cherub of the Mist”. It was later shown on BBC and as “Return of the Fire Cat” on the Discovery Channel, see our video page.
Cherub of the Mist is a documentary film based on the life of two Red pandas, namely, Mini and Sweety, who were released into the Singhalila National Park in the Darjeeling District, India. It also shows the exciting developments when six month later, in 2006, Dr Pradhan and her team returned to locate them again in the wild.
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