Red Panda - A deminishing fire of Himalayas

                  In the recent past, after a few furious attempts, I indeed had lost hope of sighting this endangered species in the Himalayas, after visiting Balkapram National Park, and Nokrek National Park in Garo hills of Meghalaya.                                                                                                            Until I recently discovered their existence in Singalila National Park. However, the sudden cloud burst and flash floods in Sikkim hampered my program. I along with other fellow members determined to see the Firefox this spring.                                                                                                 After a 4-hour journey, from Bagdogra, we landed in a Sleepy hamlet called Jawari located across the Indo-Nepal border overlooking the mountains, along the fringes of Singalila National Park. It served as our base for our upcoming weeklong Red Panda Expedition and Birding tour.

Singalila - A Biodiversity hotspot

Spread across 78.6 sq km Singalila National Park, on the northwestern border of Darjeeling district, lies on the Singalila ridge, an extension of Kanchenjunga mountain. The park is located between the altitudes of 2,400 - 3,650 m. It is part of the eastern Himalayas and is bordered by Sikkim in the north and Nepal in the west.

West Bengal’s Darjeeling district is the only place in India along with Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh where the red panda is found. A few professionals jointly with local trackers and guides promote this initiative in the region that offers wildlife enthusiasts experiences to spot the adorable, furry animal.

A Trekkers Paradise

A popular trekking trail passes through the park from Manebhanjan to Sandakphu (3,636 m), the highest peak in West Bengal, and Phalut (3,595 m), is known in the trekking community. If the eastern skies are clear,  then one can get a panoramic view from Sandakphu, Jawahari, and Phalut, one can see panoramic views of four of the 4 highest peaks in the world — Mount Everest (8,849 m), Kangchenjunga (8,586 m), Lhotse (8,516 m) and Makalu (8,481 m) from close quarters. 

Though we were staying close to the habitat of these cute little creatures. It was very hard to spot this elusive creature at ease. We came to know from the professional guides and trackers escorting us that venturing into the park is restricted from the Indian side. On the contrary, one have to avail permission and visit the park from Nepal counterpart.

Every day it was a routine to pass through the Garibas Army post ( Indian Side ) and reach Kalpokari. As and when we got updates from field trackers, we had to follow the instructions of the guide to sight the Pandas.

During our leisure time, we used to go behind the winged visitors around us. We could spot yellow-breasted fulvetta, Ascia's, Western-tailed blue, Grey pansy, Common Jester and Chocolate Albatross, Darjeeling woodpecker, Yuhinas, and Thrushes to name a few.

Normally the day would begin with a short hike to glimpse the sunrise and of snowclad peaks..In the evenings we would gaze at the burning ball of fire, watch the ocean of clouds, feel as if standing on cloud 9, and witness the play of colors in the sky.

The song of the blowing wind and bone-chilling cold makes us dumb and speechless. 

I ask myself. Which is more inspiring? A sunrise or a sunset? The beauty and awe-inspiring tranquility that surrounds a body in this moment of the day is unparalleled

Whether we are welcoming a new day or ushering out the one that just ended, enjoy the moment of sunrise and sunset!. Live your life !

Red Pandas

IUCN  STATUS - Endangered

                    With its brilliant cinnamon-red fur coat, jet-black legs, fuzzy ringed tail, and round, kitten-like face, charming eyes the red panda is easily one of the cutest animals in the wild. Also called red bear cat, lesser panda, and firefox, its scientific name Ailurus fulgens translates to fire cat. Today the mammal is found only in isolated mountain regions in China, Nepal, India, Bhutan, and Myanmar. Arboreal, essentially solitary, shy, and quiet creatures that live where bamboo is plentiful. Red pandas occupy a specialized habitat of temperate broadleaf forests and subalpine conifers, dominated by fir, Himalayan hemlock, oak, maple, rhododendron, juniper, and bamboo thickets.

They have reddish-brown coats and bushy tails with alternating red-and-white rings that help them with camouflage. The tail also helps them balance when they climb, sit, or sleep on branches, and their long claws help them climb up the highest trees to bask in the sunlight.

Despite belonging to the order Carnivora, the wild red panda has a largely vegetarian diet comprised of young leaves and shoots of bamboo (their staple diet), fruits, roots, succulent grasses, acorns, lichens, and occasionally, it consumes bird’s eggs, insects, and grubs. “In autumn, the pandas here supplement their diet with wild kiwis and Sorbus berries,” Amardeep adds.

My Panda Moment                                                                                                                             On day 01, after a stroll in the forest and a long wait, we felt that it was not fruitful. So we moved back to Jawari. The setting sun was blazing and displaying all the colors of a rainbow, promising us a memorable sunset. In the meanwhile our tracker, pasang Sherpa called our guide Amar about the movement. We couldn't delay as we came to know that there was no sign of them for more than 10 days. We dashed to the location and it was almost 5:30 pm. Our guide added that the tree dweller is often well camouflaged within the canopy. Its ruddy back merges well with the reddish-brown moss on branches, while the black on its stomach makes it difficult to spot from  below.

        Walking through the canopy, we could see the cute male adult splurging on the Sorbus berries (Sorbus alnifolia) on the tree. It was mid-November, during the fall the red pandas are, like most other non-migratory animals, stocking up on high-energy food, like the Climber plant berries that this one is looking for, up in the trees.

This individual felt safe up there so it stayed there, it was a perfect silhouette, in the diminishing light, but then crept closer to us to satisfy its curiosity. After a while, it just continued to munch on its favorite berries. I could even spot scat of pandas on the trunk of the tree, glowing in the reflecting light.

These cat-like small panda bears are actually not so uncommon in the Himalayan deciduous forests, as many might think, but they are quite difficult to spot too. They spend almost all their time far up in the canopy, sleeping cozily and seldom out on the ground.

They are food opportunists and eat almost everything from eggs, insects, and berries, and eat a lot of bamboo. We felt that we were disturbing its privacy, so we tip-toed from there for better luck the next day.

Successively after that, we were fortunate to spot a pair of cubs and Mother with 2 cubs in the dense magnolia and Oak forest. It was a herculean task to wade through bamboo thickets and sometimes slide the ridges, unmindful of risks and later consequences.

We could see mother panda occasionally consuming Sorbus fruits to protenase food and increase lactation for their cubs and caressing them was a sight to behold.

                          Watching the bearcat grooming itself, licking the thick fur on the soles of its feet, and caressing them, their acrobats from a distance armed with Binocs is something special and an unforgettable moment. Unmindful of the onlookers, they subtly vocalize with squeals, twitters, whistles, and huff-quacks. These quiet animals rely more on scent than sound to communicate with each other. The calm animal became perturbed when another tracker, Abhilash, walked along the ridge to see if he could find a better vantage point. Enabled by its extremely flexible ankles, the agile tree dweller climbed headfirst down the trunk, and soon cubs followed her

We decided to let the little Firefox go on its way and later we moved downward slowly.

Diminishing Flame -  Many Reasons?  &  Few Remedies?

Today, red pandas are an endangered species, with only countable left in the wild in Sikkim and Nepal side of Singalila National Park. indeed a few  1000' s  individuals globally. Human populations are on the rise in the Eastern Himalayas, and developmental projects including roads, pipelines, railways, encroachments, and forest land depletion resulting in degraded forests and habitat loss. Excess use of forest byproducts depletes resources, further reducing habitat alteration.

This gentle creature faces a high mortality rate, with few cubs surviving in the wild. Red pandas are also poached for their fur, and law enforcement against poaching is not so stringent. All these factors are pressing challenges to red panda conservation. But there is still a ray of hope as conservation efforts are already on war footing to save these animals.

If you feel the blog is interesting then please leave a comment. If you are willing to see these cute bears in the wild and for the birding tour, do let us know or write to us Summitersadventures@gmail.com.

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