Darjeeling: This Christmas, Darjeeling Zoo received long-cherished gifts for tourists—two red pandas—which arrived from faraway Netherlands. The coming of Vishal and Koshy marks the arrival of red pandas in India from a zoo abroad after over a decade. Aged two and a half years, they travelled for more than 27 hours— First by flight and then by road.
The panda pair was brought under the supervision of experts and doctors. At present, both red pandas are keeping healthy, according to forest department sources. The red panda couple are kept in quarantine for the next month.
Thereafter, they will be released with other red pandas in the zoo for breeding. The number of red pandas in the Darjeeling Zoo has surged to 21 now. "The red panda conservation and breeding programme of the Darjeeling Zoo has set a precedent all over the world. Banking on the past track record, we were entrusted with the breeding of red pandas from Netherlands zoo officials. After more than a decade, red pandas have been brought from abroad by any Indian zoo," Saurabh Choudhary, member secretary of the State Zoo Authority, said.
Darjeeling Zoo director Basavaraj Holeyachi said, “The pair of red pandas have arrived after a long journey. They will be kept in quarantine for about a month. Our doctors and experts will keep an eye on them. Both the pandas are healthy now." These pandas were not brought under any animal exchange programme. The Netherlands government has agreed to send the couple based on the reputation of the Darjeeling Zoo's red panda conservation and breeding programme.
The State Zoo Authority has been trying to bring the red panda for more than three years. Last year, the member secretary of the State Zoo Authority has held several meetings regarding this. Red pandas living in the Himalayan forests live in the habitats of the red pandas such as Singalila, and Neora Valley, and again in Sikkim's Kyongsel, Alpine Simba, and Rhododendron forests. Although the number of red pandas has increased with each passing year of breeding, the genes have not improved. To improve the quality of genes, it was necessary to breed with red pandas from other environments and climates.
That is the reason why the Zoo authorities and the Forest Department have taken the initiative to bring red pandas from foreign zoos. Incidentally, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has identified the red panda as an endangered species. According to the 2019 census, there were 38 red pandas in the Singalila National Sanctuary and 32 in the Neora Valley Sanctuary. In 2023-24, six red panda cubs were born in the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park. In the last three years, six red panda pairs have been released in the Singalila Sanctuary after inserting radio collars in them.
