The 10 red pandas, six females and four males, are in the Panchthar-Ilam-Taplejung corridor, a forested area on the Nepal-India border near Mount Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world.
The data shows the movement of the red panda between Nepal and India, and allows researchers to track its habits, which will help protect the animal, which is endangered according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Man Bahadur Khadka, director general of the Nepal Department of Forest and Soil Conservation, told the Nepali Times newspaper that the survival of this species is primarily threatened by human factors.
Satellite tracking provides data on the animals’ position every two hours, and will help conservationists understand better how these mammals interact in a habitat dominated by human settlements.
The red panda population is located across Nepal, India, Burma, and China. There are currently fewer than 10,000 wild red pandas worldwide, and 800 are in zoos across the globe. Only a thousand remain in 36 of Nepal’s 77 districts.
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