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Red Panda is member of Ailuridae family in the order carnivora (Thapa & Basnet. 2015) and is listed as endangered in IUCN red list and is listed as schedule 1 species under Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 in India (Ghose & Dutta 2011). Food preferences of red panda were determined in Sikkim, Eastern Himalaya. Five sites were identified in the four districts of Sikkim. The study sites were Lachung Valley and Shingba Rhododendron Sanctuary in North Sikkim, Yalli Reserved Forest in East Sikkim, Barsey Rhododendron Sanctuary in West Sikkim and Maenam Wildlife Sanctuary in South Sikkim. In order to determine food habits of red panda, its pellet samples were collected during filed survey from all the study sites by previous workers of WWF-India, Sikkim Program Office. These pellet samples were then subjected to micro-histological analysis. For North Sikkim, total 57 samples, 30 from Lachung Valley and 27 from Shingba Rhododendron Sanctuary were analysed. For each slide 5 grab samples were prepared and slides were prepared. Microscopic view images taken from each slide were then compared to images taken from reference slides. Reference slides were prepared for potential red panda food material. After analysis of pellet samples, relative frequency of plant species found in pellet samples, relative importance value index for individual species found in study area was also calculated. Maximun relative importance value index was corresponding to Yushmania maling for across all the sites followed by Thamnocalamus aristatus. These two species were reported to be most important component of red panda diet. Plant species like, Lycopodium sp, Sorbus spp, Rubus spp. Lichen, Hypericum spp. were also reported from the pellet samples of red panda. To determine similarity in food preference, Wilcoxon Rank sum test was performed at a significance value of 0.5. The test yielded the p-value of 0.9302, which signifies that food habits are similar in two study sites of North Sikkim. Across all the sites in Sikkim diet of red panda was found to be comprising of 81.4% of bamboo components whereas other food material comprised of only 18.6%.
Key Words: Red panda, Eastern Himalaya, Sikkim, Food preferences, Food habits
