Dubai: A zoo in Darjeeling, India, became the first Indian project to be shortlisted for the global conservation award by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), for the red panda programme, which works towards the conservation of red pandas.
The Topkeydara Conservation Centre run by the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, has been shortlisted for the global award after working on re-wilding red pandas.
With only 10,000 red pandas in the wild, globally, the project aims to help re-wild all red pandas in an effort to save the species from extinction. They have successfully released nine red pandas and are re-wilding three other red pandas, to be released soon.
Earlier this year, the Centre became the only one in the country to establish a genetic biobank facility to help preserve the genetic material of endangered animals like red pandas, snow leopards, and Himalayan tahrs.
The red pandas, in their process of re-wilding, are kept away from the zoo in an enclosure in the Topkeydara Conservation Centre.
With ten permanent staff and researchers present, the animals are studied in various aspects, including their movements, eating habits, health and well-being.
In an interview with Indian news organisation The Print, Prajwal, one of the researchers of the red panda programme said: “It involves everything from learning how to climb high trees, find food, identify predators, and stay safe, most of all. These are captive-bred pandas, you can’t just re-wild them with no training.”
“They need to be acclimatised,” he added.
There are currently less than 50 pandas each at the the Neora and Singalila national parks in West Bengal. While the remaining 10,000 red pandas are in China, Bhutan, and Northeast India.
The Centre currently has ten red pandas and seven snow leopards and is closed to visitors. The red pandas, once trained, will be released into the forests of the Singalila National Park.
