Red Panda: Biology and Conservation of the First Panda

Angela R. Glatston

Nov 2010 · William Andrew

About this ebook

Red Panda: Biology and Conservation of the First Panda provides a broad-based overview of the biology of the red panda, Ailurus fulgens. A carnivore that feeds almost entirely on vegetable material and is colored chestnut red, chocolate brown and cream rather than the expected black and white. This book gathers all the information that is available on the red panda both from the field and captivity as well as from cultural aspects, and attempts to answer that most fundamental of questions, "What is a red panda?" Scientists have long focused on the red panda’s controversial taxonomy. Is it in fact an Old World procyonid, a very strange bear or simply a panda? All of these hypotheses are addressed in an attempt to classify a unique species and provide an in-depth look at the scientific and conservation-based issues urgently facing the red panda today.

Red Panda not only presents an overview of the current state of our knowledge about this intriguing species but it is also intended to bring the red panda out of obscurity and into the spotlight of public attention.

• Wide-ranging account of the red panda (Ailurus fulgens) covers all the information that is available on this species both in and ex situ
• Discusses the status of the species in the wild, examines how human activities impact on their habitat, and develops projections to translate this in terms of overall panda numbers
• Reports on status in the wild, looks at conservation issues and considers the future of this unique species
• Includes contributions from long-standing red panda experts as well as those specializing in fields involving cutting-edge red panda research.

About the author

Angela Glatston was the Conservation Coordinator for Rotterdam Zoo, as well as the Chair of the Board of the Red Panda Network. Dr. Glatston was the creator of the Red Panda EEP and more recently the Red Panda Global Species Management Plan. Dr. Glatston is also the former chair of the IUCN SSC Specialist Group Chair for Mustelids, Viverrids, and Procyonids (now the Small Carnivore Specialist Group), having compiled the first Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan for Procyonids and Ailurids. Recently, she drafted the Red Data List Assessment for the red panda that resulted in its being reclassified as endangered rather than vulnerable.