Context: Recently,the trade monitoring network TRAFFIC has released a report titled “Assessment of illegal trade-related threats to Red Panda in India and selected neighbouring range countries”.The report has analysed poaching and illegal trade of the species for the ten-year period from July 2010 to June 2019.
Current Scenario

• The iconic and endangered Red Panda (ailurus fulgens) has fewer hunters because the younger generations of people across its Himalayan habitat are losing interest in animal products, a new study by wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC has found.
• However, the reddish-brown arboreal mammal, not closely related to the iconic black-and-white giant panda, is falling to traps laid for other animals, such as the musk deer and wild pigs, the report said.
• The red panda survival is crucial for the eastern and north-eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests and the eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests.
• The animal has been hunted for meat and fur, besides illegal capture for the pet trade.
• The report has indicated that the traditional demand for red panda meat and related products has reduced over time.
• Also, the reduction in poaching and illegal trade of red panda is indicative of the success of awareness campaigns about the conservation of the species.

About Red Panda

• The only living member of the genus Ailurus, the Red Panda is listed as ‘endangered’ on the IUCN Red List of threatened species under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• It is also the state animal of Sikkim.
• The animal has been hunted for meat and fur, besides illegal capture for the pet trade.
• An estimated 14,500 animals are left in the wild across Nepal, Bhutan, India, China and Myanmar.
• About 5,000-6,000 red pandas are estimated to be present in four Indian states – Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Sikkim and West Bengal. 
• This is the second-largest population after China (6,000-7,000). Nepal accounts for 580 animals, while Bhutan and Mynamar have no estimate of the animal’s population.
• Red pandas have been reported from 11 districts of Arunachal Pradesh, which is presumed to hold the largest red panda population in the country.

Recommendations to preserve this Species

• Community-based conservation and protection for the species as its habitat stretches across remote areas.
• Trans-boundary law enforcement co-operation through the use of multi-government platforms like SAWEN (South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network).
• SAWEN was formally established at an inter-governmental meeting hosted in Paro (a town in Bhutan) by the Royal Government of Bhutan, in January 2011.It aims to establish multilateral collaboration to fight wildlife crime in the region.

About TRAFFIC (The Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network)

• TRAFFIC is a leading non-governmental organisation working globally on trade in wild animals and plants in the context of both biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.
• It is a joint program of WWF and IUCN – the International Union for Conservation of Nature created in 1976.
• TRAFFIC focuses on leveraging resources, expertise and awareness of the latest globally urgent species trade issues such as tiger parts, elephant ivory and rhino horn.