The Singalila National Park, the maximum protected area in West Bengal, will shortly get new denizens. A zoo in the picturesque Darjeeling Hills has started out an bold programme to augment the wild crimson panda population.
In the initial re-wilding programme of purple pandas (Ailurus fulgens) in India, the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park has began an formidable programme to launch 20 of these furry mammals in about 5 several years to the forests.
The range of red pandas has been declining in the wild, even in the Singalila and Neora Valley Nationwide Parks, the two safeguarded spots wherever the endangered mammal is observed in the wild in West Bengal. Latest studies estimate that there are 38 of them in Singalila and 32 in Neora.
Basavaraj Holeyachi, Director of zoological park who is at the centre of the Pink Panda Augmentation Programme, claims conservation breeding of red pandas is only a single element of the programme. Assortment of animals to be launched in the wild, breaking their foodstuff association with people and tagging the animals unveiled in the wild are very important factors in re-wilding of the purple panda inhabitants, he provides.
The Padmaja Naidu park, at a peak of about 2,000 metres earlier mentioned the sea amount, is one particular of the large-altitude zoos in the place and has been pretty effective in captive breeding of the furry mammals. With the start of a pair of cubs a handful of months in the past, the amount of red pandas at the Darjeeling zoo has amplified to 27. Dr. Holeyachi advised The Hindu it was the coordination zoo for conservation breeding of purple pandas in the nation with a long time of experience. He reported most other large-altitude zoos ended up participatory zoos that have animals specified by it.
In 2021, two pairs of red pandas ended up produced in the Singalila park. Although two died, signals were being been given from two animals who managed to endure in the wild. The zoo director stated this 12 months, 3 girls are very likely to be launched in Oct. Dr. Holeyachi said the full approach of choice and identification of animals to be unveiled in the wild is time-consuming and meticulous.
“We have a conservation breeding centre at Topkey Dara in Darjeeling the place cubs are stored absent from human presence. We also attempt to crack meals association with people. At Topkey Dara we make soft releases of the animals right before they are in fact produced in the wild,” he added. The zoo director mentioned it is vital that the animals dread humans so that they can adapt in the wild. Even in the assortment of animals, professionals appear for diversity in genetic profile, and pedigree of the animals.
“Since there are no benchmarks as far as re-wilding of crimson pandas born in captivity is anxious, every thing is a finding out expertise. We have to get started from scratch. The collars which are equipped on the animals when they are introduced in the wild are iridium collars that can give indicators for 70 months,” Dr. Holyecahi said. Professionals also place out that for surviving in the wild, the dietary pattern of animals which principally survive on bamboo leaves, desires to improve. Zookeepers are supporting the panda cubs consist of eggs in their eating plan which could be out there in an unprotected landscape.
Categorised as an endangered species as per IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, pink pandas are shy, solitary and arboreal animals and thought of an indicator species for ecological alter. They are also one particular of the most iconic species in terms of their value to worldwide conservation.
A few of the latest publications by scientists of Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have settled the secret about the demography and speciation in red panda. The experiments have concluded that India is residence to both the (sub) species — Himalayan purple panda (Ailurus fulgens) and the Chinese red panda (Ailurus styani) and the Siang river in Arunachal Pradesh splits the two phylogenetic species.
