Search For The Red Panda
Search For The Red Panda
In May 2014 I returned to Nepal with my dear friend Gustavo Martinez Schmidt of Nubla Productions to search for and ultimately film the elusive and highly endangered Red Panda. We hooked up with my old friend and guide Chimmi Lama from Tulo Shyphro – a beautiful village at the entrance to the Langtang National Park. He promised to take us to the areas of high cloud forest where we had the best chance to observe these shy creatures.
Before leaving Kathmandu we met ZSL project leader Hem Baral and interviewed him on behalf of Earth Touch. He pointed out that although conservation efforts were in place, the Red Panda was highly threatened and not enough was being done to ensure protection from future extinction. The main threat to the Red Panda is habitat loss through human encroachment.
The trip to Tulo Shyphro is a 2 day affair that starts with a 10 hour bus ride to the small village of Tulo Barkhu. From there it’s a 5 hour hike to Tulo Shyphro. We hung out in Tulo for a few days to acclimate and shoot b-roll then hiked another day up to Sing Gompa (3580 m.), which is the small lodge
before the pass to Lake Gosaikund – a popular trekking route.
It’s from here that we set out every day in search of the Red Panda. Their habitat is the bamboo forests that are found in the cloud forests at 3 – 4000m overlooking the Langtang Valley. We spent a lot of time following fresh spoor and found plenty of evidence of recent Red panda activity but am sad to say were unable to capture any on film. Undeterred we plan to return to Nepal this year to try again – this time with a little more time………
For more information about Red Pandas check out this link from the WWF or try the Red Panda Network.