International Red Panda Day falls on the 15th September this year, for which I will be doing a sponsored head shave in order to raise funds for the Red Panda Network. 

For those who know me personally, you may already know that I have been growing my hair out in order to donate the cuttings to The Little Princess Trust. Hair donations are then made into wigs for children battling cancer and other illnesses. With my hair already being cut short for one good cause, I thought I might as well go the whole hog and try and raise money for another.

For the last year I have been working directly with red pandas, so the Red Panda Network is a charity that is very close to my heart.

Red pandas are an amazing and unique species which is sadly listed as endangered on the IUCN red list. Red pandas are only found in the temperate forests in the foothills of the Himalayas with their home range extending from western Nepal to northern Myanmar and can be found in the mountainous areas of southwestern China. 

Population numbers for this species are difficult to obtain due to them being extremely elusive and hard to find out in the wild, however, there are thought to be less than 10,000 red pandas left in the wild. This is truly devastating as they are the only extant (living) relative of the Ailuridae family, meaning there are no other species like the red panda on earth!

The Eastern Himalayan Broadleaf Forest Ecoregion is one of the most biodiverse regions in the word and red pandas have been identified as an umbrella species for this ecoregion. Conserving red pandas and their habitat will save many other species that call this ecoregion home, such as Asiatic black bears and clouded leopards from extinction too. The Panchthar-Ilam-Taplejung (PIT) corridor is found within eastern Nepal and supports 25% of the red panda population and plays an important role in linking protected areas in Nepal and India. 

The Red Panda Network works to protect the red pandas and their habitat within the PIT corridor and many other areas across their home range by means of research and monitoring, education and outreach, habitat protection and restoration, and sustainable development initiatives for surrounding local communities.

To find out more about red pandas and what the Red Panda Network do to help conserve these beautiful creatures out in the wild, please visit www.redpandanetwork.org.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page!! You are more than welcome to join us at the park (Shepreth Wildlife Park) on the 15th September to help us celebrate International Red Panda day and watch me get my head shaved! Hope to see you all soon.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.