MYAGDI, Dec 9: A Red Panda has been found in Banchare Danda forest at Muna, Dhaulagiri Rural Municipality-3.
The government has enlisted Red Panda as an endangered wildlife. This animal is found at altitudes ranging from 2,000 meters to 4,800 meters above sea level.
A team comprising employees and office-bearers of Dhaulagiri Rural Municipality spotted the Red Panda at an altitude of 3,100 meters while returning from Muna Malika.
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Tejindra Pun, an employee at the rural municipality, clicked a photo and recorded a video of the wild animal, and shared them to the forest officials, as well as made them public. Pun said that the Red Panda has been found for the first time in the forest of the erstwhile Muna Village Development Committee.
Bishnu Prasad Adhikari, chief of the Division Forest Office, Myagdi, confirmed that the animal spotted at Banchare Danda forest is Red Panda. "Based on the video and the photo as well as the droppings found at the site, it has been confirmed that the Dhaulagiri area is a Red Panda habitat," Adhikari said, adding that they would propose projects to the Ministry and the donor agencies' projects for the preservation of Red Panda.
With assistance from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the financial support of the Hariyo Ban Program, The Red Panda Network and Himali Conservation Forum had carried out a search campaign in 2073 BS.
Badri Baral, a researcher associated with the Red Panda Network, said although the habitat of Red Panda was found in the Dhaulagiri region before this, the animal was not directly observed.
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