“We wanted an animal whose nature reflected the current mood in the country, so we chose an animal that was non-violent,” says member secretary of the NSC Jivan Ram Shrestha. “Furthermore, we wanted to choose an animal that will benefit from all the attention it will get once it’s chosen as the mascot.” [break]
The NSC consulted with the Trust for Nature Conservation (TNC) and the latter suggested a few animals, including the red panda. The rhino, which had been chosen as the mascot for the original version of the 5th National Games (the games had to be abandoned), was not considered a possible candidate this time around because the animal was adopted by India as its mascot for its 33rd National Games.
Incidentally, this is not the first time that the red panda is making a headline appearance on the national stage. The red panda had originally debuted during the National Games as a mascot under its Nepali name habre, “We were just not aware that habre and the red panda were one and the same,” says Jivan Ram Shrestha.
The red panda feeds on bamboo and is found in Nepal’s Langtang National Park, Annapurna Conservation Area, Sagarmatha National Park, Manaslu Conservation Area, Makalu Barun National Park and Kanchenjunga National park.
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