Darjeeling zoo attempts country’s first augmentation of endangered Red Panda in the wild

• Singalila National Park(West Bengal): A zoo in Darjeeling Hills has started an ambitious programme to augment the wild red panda population.

Key highlights

• The first rewilding programme of red pandas (Ailurus fulgens) in India, Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park will release 20 of these furry endangered mammals in about five years to the forests.
• The number of red pandas has been declining in the wild, even in the Singalila and Neora Valley National Parks where the mammal is found in the wild in West Bengal.
• Studies estimate that there are 38 of them in Singalila and 32 in Neora.
• Padmaja Naidu park: One of the high-altitude zoos in the country and has been quite successful in captive breeding of furry mammals.