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Press Release: Tiger Photographed for First Time In Nepal’s Red Panda Habitat
At an unprecedented altitude in Nepal, a wild tiger has been photographed in the mountain forest habitat of red pandas.
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Download a PDF of the press releaseThe Bengal tiger Panthera tigris tigris — one of the planet’s most iconic large carnivores — was photographed at an elevation of 3,165 meters by a camera trap in a forest in Ilam district, eastern Nepal. It is the highest elevation a tiger has been sighted in Nepal and the very first photographic evidence of this species in the mountains of the country's eastern region. This tiger sighting in Ilam district brings the total number of cat species in the Kangchenjunga Landscape (KL) in eastern Nepal to eight species including leopard, clouded leopard, snow leopard, Asiatic golden cat, leopard cat, jungle cat, and marbled cat.
The photographs of the tiger were taken by one of twenty camera traps set to monitor ten wild red pandas equipped with GPS-satellite collars in KL. As part of that study — funded by Rotterdam Zoo in The Netherlands — we have been deploying camera traps to monitor the movement of red pandas and their response to disturbances.
Red panda 'Paaru' with GPS collar. © James Houston/RPNRed Panda Network (RPN) also worked with Rotterdam Zoo on an intensive camera trap mammal survey in 2018 and 2019. The installed camera traps have photographed a thriving wildlife population in the PIT corridor and the first photographic evidence of the rare marbled cat in Panchthar district, Nepal. Other high-profile species that were documented include red panda Ailurus fulgens, Himalayan black bear Ursus thibetanus, Himalayan serow Capricornis thar, Himalayan goral Naemorhedus goral, and Assam macaque Macaca assamensis.
The highest recorded elevations for the Bengal tiger are 3,630 meters in India and above 4,400 meters in Bhutan. The previous highest elevation for the species in Nepal was 2,500 meters in the far-western Dadeldhura district.
“Tiger is an umbrella species that ensures the well-being of the entire ecosystem across its habitat,” says Man Bahadur Khadka, Director General of the Department of Forests and Soil Conservation (DoFSC). “This record of tiger presence signifies the importance of high-altitude forest in the mountains as a habitat for these endangered big cats,” he added. The red panda GPS-collar study has been implemented under the leadership of the DoFSC with technical support from the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation, Government of Nepal and is one of the important activities of the Red Panda Conservation Action Plan for Nepal.
RPN field technician and FG installing camera trap.
Marbled cat in red panda habitat in Eastern Nepal. ©RPN“The first-ever record of a tiger in Ilam district demonstrates the significance of the PIT corridor in eastern Nepal, and how it needs to be a global conservation priority,” says Ang Phuri Sherpa, RPN’s Country Director. The PIT corridor provides connectivity to the Kangchenjunga Conservation Area in Nepal and Singalila National Park in India which is somehow connected with the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary of West Bengal where tigers live.
The Bengal tiger is categorized as “Endangered” in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species; listed under Appendix-I by the CITES and protected by the Government of Nepal. Tigers in Nepal are distributed to five protected areas in the Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) covering 18 districts and 9 biological corridors in Nepal. Nepal has a long history of tiger conservation since the inception of the protected areas system to the ambitious TX2 Goal: to become the first country to double the tiger population by 2022. A census in 2009 recorded the national tiger count at 121 individuals and a study in 2018 has recorded 235 tigers in the wild — illustrating Nepal’s progress and commitment to tiger conservation.
"The connectivity of habitat is important for the dispersal of wild tigers. It is crucial to continue the conservation of forests with local communities for the future of tigers." said Dr. Ghana Shayam Gurung, Country Representative of WWF Nepal.
Bengal tiger in red panda habitat in eatstern Nepal. © RPNThis latest photographic evidence of the Bengal tiger in eastern Nepal’s red panda habitat emphasizes the need for high-mountain tiger conservation and opens up a multitude of research possibilities. An in-depth effort is required to understand the tiger movement and compatibility of high-altitude ecology with tiger growth.
Dr. Eric Dinerstein, the Director of Biodiversity and Wildlife Solutions at RESOLVE and author of Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations has worked in tiger conservation in Nepal since the 1970s. He remarked, “How amazing to detect tigers returning to the upper edge of their range. Yet another accomplishment for Nepal, leading the world in wildlife restoration.”
“Lack of evidence-based studies in the past may have deprived us from such unusual sightings. Camera-trapping in other potential sites at mid and high-mountain ranges may reveal more,” said Damber Bista from the University of Queensland who is leading the GPS-collar red panda study in Ilam district. This unprecedented sighting of the Bengal tiger affirms the significance of the PIT corridor in landscape connectivity for multiple flagship species and transboundary-level conservation.
Bengal tiger in red panda habitat in eatstern Nepal. © RPNDr. Nakul Chettri from ICIMOD who managed conservation projects in the transboundary KL for decades said “Tigers in higher elevations have been previously reported from adjacent Singalila National Park of Darjeeling, Neora Valley National Park, Sikkim and recently in Bhutan. A safe passage through contiguous corridors to higher elevation could be a reason for the tiger in higher altitudes in KL. Thus, transboundary cooperation is necessary to restore fragmented and isolated habitats to connect landscapes. ICIMOD is happy to be a facilitator of KL.”
Dr. Hem Baral, Country Manager of ZSL Nepal who wrote a comprehensive book on tigers in Nepali said “Vertical gradient and forest corridors provide important refuge from, and help to mitigate, climate-induced threats. Kudos to RPN for their hard work and sharing this information to ensure Nepal still has habitat for tigers to live at higher altitudes!”
For more information:
Madhuri Karki Thapa, Under Secretary, Department of Forests and Soil Conservation, Phone: +977 1 4221231, Email: madhureethapa@gmail.com
Sonam Tashi Lama, Program Coordinator, Mobile: +977 9841843968, Email: sonam.lama@redpandanetwork.org
Print and broadcast media contact:
Terrance Fleming (877) 854-2391 Ext. 101, terrance@redpandanetwork.org
Red Panda Network (RPN) protects wild red pandas and their habitat through the education and empowerment of local communities. Learn more about our work at www.redpandanetwork.org.
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Press Release: Ten Red Pandas Collared in Nepal For Groundbreaking Study
> Download a PDF of the Press Release
Kathmandu, Nepal — Ten wild red pandas have been equipped with GPS-satellite collars in the Panchthar-Ilam-Taplejung (PIT) Corridor: a belt of forest that connects protected areas in Nepal and India. This is Nepal’s first red panda GPS collar study.
Led by the Ministry of Forests and Environment, Department of Forests and Soil Conservation (DoFSC), and Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC), and in collaboration with Red Panda Network (RPN), the red panda collar study took three months (September to December 2019) to complete in Sandakpur Rural Municipality of Ilam district, eastern Nepal. Six females and four males were successfully collared.
The collaring project was facilitated by the country’s first five-year (2019-2023) action plan for red pandas. RPN collaborated with the government of Nepal in the development of the action plan.
The research team consisted of officials from the Divisional Forest Office, Ilam, DoFSC, DNPWC; Purushottam Pandey, Veterinary Officer at the Directorate of Livestock and Fisheries (DLF), Janno Weerman, the Zoological Manager at Rotterdam Zoo and Red Panda EAZA Ex-situ Program Coordinator; and RPN’s Damber Bista, a Ph.D. student at the University of Queensland in Australia who is also the principal investigator of this research—as well as RPN’s Forest Guardian, conservation and research teams.
“This is a great milestone in red panda conservation”, says Man Bahadur Khadka, Director General of the DOFSC. “We assure the protection and conservation of this charismatic species whose survival is mainly threatened by anthropogenic factors.”
Paaru, the first red panda to be GPS collared in Nepal on September 22, 2019. © Sonam Tashi Lama/Red Panda NetworkPhoto 2: Paaru, the first red panda to be GPS collared in Nepal on September 22, 2019. © Sonam Tashi Lama/Red Panda Network
Photo 1 (top of page): Mechhachha, collared on December 4, 2019. © Damber Bista/Red Panda Network/Queensland University
With global estimates at less than 10,000 individuals surviving in the wild, the red panda is categorized as an endangered mammal on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. Red pandas serve as an indicator species of their Eastern Himalayan temperate forest habitat—one of our planet’s biodiversity hotspots—as their occurrence is related to canopy cover and bamboo abundance. Red pandas are the only extant member of their taxonomic family, and according to Dr. Angela Glatston, Global Species Management Plan Convener and the Chair of RPN’s Board of Directors, if they were to become extinct that would be, at least taxonomically, “like losing the whole cat family, from lions to domestic cats.”
The collar study is an important component of RPN’s long-term monitoring initiative. It will not only provide critical baseline data on red panda ecology, distribution, and behavior in the wild but will also apprise stakeholders with valuable insight into landscape-level conservation efforts required to manage biological corridors. “This is a proud moment for us to have the opportunity to fulfill one of the objectives of Nepal’s Red Panda Conservation Action Plan”, comments Ang Phuri Sherpa, RPN’s Country Director in Nepal.
“This study aims to better understand how red pandas interact in human-dominated landscapes. The collars are programmed to record data every two hours which will be transferred via a satellite system for one year. The data will help us get a better insight into their movement and space-use pattern, social behavior, and their response to disturbances.”, says Damber Bista.
The study is being generously funded by Rotterdam Zoo who continues to have an essential role in red panda research and conservation. In 1978, they launched the international red panda studbook and have been coordinating it ever since.
Red panda 'Paaru' with GPS collar. © James Houston/RPNThis is the first time GPS-satellite collars are being used to study red pandas in the wild. During the 1980s, the pioneer red panda biologist from Nepal, the late Pralad Yonzon, used VHF technology to study red pandas in Langtang National Park, central Nepal.
Prior to RPN’s collar study, the GPS collars were tested with two captive red pandas at the Rotterdam Zoo to evaluate their effectiveness and any possible disruption of the animal’s movement or behavior. The collar devices were found to be effective with no disruption.
“Rotterdam Zoo finds it very important that in-situ and ex-situ conservationists work together to protect the red panda and their habitat. Part of this cooperation is the GPS collaring research. Our zoo is supporting this research because the results of this research will give us more insight into the ecology of the species that helps us to take more specific measurements to protect the red panda and their natural habitat,” says Janno Weerman, the Zoological Manager at the Rotterdam Zoo and Red Panda EAZA Ex-situ Program Coordinator. Janno was also involved in RPN’s collar study in 2019 where he primarily trained Nepali researchers on the safe handling of the animal.
The collars provide exceptional data on the movement and habitat use of the red pandas. RPN’s Forest Guardians also use VHF tracking devices and utilize camera traps to collect additional data. The red pandas were named Paaru, Dolma, Chintapu, Mechhachha, Bhumo, Senehang, Ngima, Brian, Ninamma, and Praladdevi by local people (including Forest Guardians); the names represent culture, landscape, language, and ethnicity of the region. The name Praladdevi was given in tribute to Pralad Yonzon.
RPN is working with Divisional Forest Offices and more than sixty Community Forests with active conservation programs in ten districts in Nepal.
For further information contact: Madhuri Karki Thapa, Under Secretary, Department of Forests and Soil Conservation, Government of Nepal, Phone: +977 1 4221231, Email: madhureethapa@gmail.com
Sonam Tashi Lama, Program Coordinator, Mobile: +977 9841843968, Email: sonam.lama@redpandanetwork.org
Print and broadcast media contact:
Terrance Fleming (877) 854-2391 Ext. 101, terrance@redpandanetwork.org
Red Panda Network protects wild red pandas and their habitat through the education and empowerment of local communities. Learn more about our work at www.redpandanetwork.org.
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