With the “guardians” of the red pandas, in the heart of the Nepalese forest
Taplejung District, Nepal – In the misty hills of eastern Nepal, near the border with India, 48-year-old Surya Bhattarai patrols the steep slopes of the Sudap Community Forest in Taplejung District. Braving isolation, harsh terrain, and wild animals, he tracks the elusive and endangered red panda, endemic to the eastern Himalayas.
This farmer, trained in field data collection, is one of 128 “forest guardians.” Armed with a GPS tracker, a phone, a notebook, a pen, a meter stick, and a vernier caliper, he records the presence of the small animal. In total, there are 44 guardians like him working in the Panchthar–Ilam–Taplejung (PIT) corridor, an area of some 11,500 square kilometers that is home to about a quarter of Nepal’s red pandas ( Ailurus fulgens ).
In Taplejung, Surya Bhattarai watches over several sections of forest, which he methodically surveys in search of droppings, claw marks or any other sign of the presence of the arboreal mammal.
Surveys take place four times a year—in February, May, August, and November—according to the red panda's life cycle, including breeding and mating seasons. Patrols also take place during the summer, Bhattarai explains, to deter poachers.
In total, fewer than 10,000 red pandas remain in India, Bhutan, China, and Nepal, which alone has between 500 and 1,000 individuals in its temperate bamboo forests, spread across 25 districts. This shy and elusive species is slowly dying out, a victim of rapid road and hydroelectric development, and of habitat degradation by human activity, which is destroying the bamboo forests on which the small mammal depends.
Launched in 2010 by the Red Panda Network (RPN) with just 16 members, the forest rangers have gradually grown to become one of Nepal's largest citizen-led wildlife monitoring programs. The rangers conduct quarterly censuses, study red panda behavior and habitat, and conduct community awareness campaigns, all while seeking support to combat poaching. They are paid 3,000 Nepalese rupees [about 18 euros] per patrol.
Inspired by the Annapurna Conservation Area—a locally managed initiative—the Forest Guardians program acts as a bridge between the RPN and indigenous communities, explains Ang Phuri Sherpa, the organization's executive director. “Our biggest challenge is gaining the trust of local residents. The Forest Guardians are our ambassadors on the ground.”
Coming from local communities—and often from disadvantaged backgrounds, particularly economically—the forest guardians, who generally have completed secondary school, all patrol close to their homes. This citizen surveillance forms the basis of the RPN's conservation program, according to Sherpa.
The data collected by Surya Bhattarai and his colleagues—panda observation, GPS tracking, video images, and logbooks—are regularly compiled to help develop conservation measures. “They help identify key habitat areas, guide anti-poaching measures, and inform local land use programs,” continues the program director, who is supported by several American and European zoos. “These professional keepers are local ambassadors for our animal protection policies, keeping an eye on red panda populations and their habitats, and educating their relatives and neighbors about these issues.”
“The idea of hiring local people to monitor pandas is commendable,” says Arjun Thapa, a wildlife researcher currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, in Beijing. “But it’s equally important to understand how their observations are used—whether they inform policy, have practical impacts on species conservation, and benefit local communities.”
Because gathering data isn't enough, Thapa emphasizes. “Then you have to rigorously confirm and analyze that information. Without that, it's difficult to take informed action and intervene wisely.”
The researcher also questions the effectiveness of monitoring methods. “Red pandas don't always follow the same route,” he points out. “So using fixed sectors from one quarter to the next doesn't necessarily provide an accurate picture of their movements or lifestyle.”
Today, forest rangers are focusing on areas where pandas are most threatened, says Ang Phuri Sherpa. “In the past, we had up to ten poaching cases a year,” recalls the program director. “ For the past five or six years, we haven't recorded a single case in the areas where we work.”
To reduce local populations' dependence on forest resources, the RPN also trains them in welcoming tourists – homestays, guided nature hikes, and ecotourism. It also supports various training programs designed to diversify their sources of income, particularly for women, through carpet weaving, crocheting, and processing nettle fibers, for example.
In the village of Phurumbu, several women sew bags and handkerchiefs from nettle fiber using sewing machines. Chandra Kumari Limbu, 40, trained with the Himali Conservation Forum, a local NGO, and now sells her products to local schools and souvenir shops in Kathmandu. The business, founded two years ago, employs 16 women. “We need to talk about our products to get them known,” she explains.
“These new skills allow [women] to earn money while participating in the preservation of the region, creating a self-funded economic model that brings dignity, empowerment, and a lasting commitment to safeguarding natural resources,” says Sherpa. “The RPN not only acts for biodiversity, it also invests to promote the resilience and autonomy of communities that coexist with endangered species like the red panda.”
According to Sherpa, residents of the PIT corridor are more aware of the threat to the small mammal than their counterparts in the central and western parts of the country. “This difference could be explained by the awareness programs on red panda conservation implemented in eastern Nepal,” he wrote in a peer-reviewed study published in 2021 on ScienceDirect and in a collection titled Red Panda: Biology and Conservation of the First Panda.
In Ilam, near Singalila National Park—one of India's prime red panda habitats—several families welcome tourists into their homes who come to glimpse this elusive mammal in the wild. Around fifteen such accommodations are located in the PIT corridor, accommodating up to eight groups of foreign tourists—around fifty people—each year. “Our commercial branch runs these programs and reinvests part of the revenue into animal protection. Our goal is to reduce local people's dependence on the forest by providing alternative sources of income,” explains Sherpa.
Sadly, despite a population increasingly involved in its conservation and notable progress on the ground, the red panda remains seriously threatened.
The disappearance and fragmentation of its territory is accelerating its decline. “One of the main threats to the panda’s survival is the road construction projects that are proliferating haphazardly in the Nepalese hills,” Sherpa laments. “These roads often cross areas vital to pandas, without any scientific study [beforehand].”
With this in mind, the RPN has launched an ambitious reforestation campaign in the Ilam district. It recently received a $2.5 million grant [about €2.2 million] for a five-year program to replant 500 hectares of forest, which will link to Singalila Park. “This link will allow genetic mixing between red pandas from Nepal and those from India, and thus improve the resilience of the species,” Sherpa continues. “Without this, inbreeding risks becoming very problematic. In the event of a pandemic in the group, the disease could then wipe out a significant portion of the panda population.”
In August 2024, Puwamajhuwa village in Ilam district officially became Nepal's first community-managed protected area – a true beacon of hope for the survival of the small mammal.
But threats remain numerous, including attacks by stray dogs, particularly near the Pathibhara temple in Taplejung district, where goats are regularly sacrificed to appease the goddess.
“During the pilgrimage season, in the fall and spring, dogs come and eat the goat meat left behind by the faithful,” explains Ramesh Rai, program coordinator at the Himali Conservation Forum. “But in between, when they run out of meat, they sometimes attack the red pandas that have come down from their trees.” Not to mention the diseases they spread—rabies and canine distemper.
Dhan Kumar Sembu, 47, a forest warden in the temple area, agrees: "Stray dogs and hunting dogs are a real scourge. But the vaccination campaign is helping to limit some of the damage."
Several wildlife researchers have studied the species' evolution to understand how it went from a carnivorous diet to a primarily vegetarian one—the red panda now feeds on bamboo leaves. Researchers believe the small mammal adapted to the changing environment: "Its teeth and digestive system still resemble those of carnivores, but over time, probably due to the scarcity of prey, it adapted to a diet consisting primarily of bamboo," Sherpa explains. "Because this plant is not very nutritious, pandas must consume large quantities of it and remain inactive for a good part of the day to conserve energy."
And while the little creature basks in the sun, Surya Bhattarai – who was awarded the title of Green Ambassador by a Nepalese NGO in 2023 – and his colleagues brave the elements to protect it.
On a recent patrol, Bhattarai encountered strong winds and sudden rains. “I was almost swept away,” he recalls. But he remains undeterred, as the red panda is in danger. “I feel a sense of purpose: we must give our children a chance to see wild animals in the forest. And not just in pictures.”
[At the request of “Mongabay,” which published the original version of this article, we remind you that “Courrier International” is the guarantor of the translation – as is the case for all articles from the foreign press that we translate.]
