History

The Red Panda Project began in 1997 on a trip to Sandukphu, Ilam.  On a crystal clear  day, with 6 inches of snow on the ground, Brian and two of his Peace Corps friends were hiking along the Singhalila ridge soaking in one of the most spectacular views in all of the Himalaya.  Out of nowhere comes a foreign tourist running down the trail with his backpack swaying.  He comes running up to us and asks, “Have you seen anybady today?“ (in a thick British accent).  My friends and I look at each other and I say, “No. Why?”  I’m thinking what happened that would inspire someone from  halfway around the world to be running around in 6 inches of snow at 12,000 feet, disregarding this amazing view.  Then he says, “Sombady’s killed a red panda. I think it was a Nepalese person and they went back across the border.”  I said, “Nope we haven’t seen anyone.  You’re the first person that we’ve seen today.”  But in the back of my mind all I could think about was…What’s a red panda? And Why are they so important that they would cause this person to run around in the middle of nowhere trying to save one? 

This one incident lead Brian on his quest to understand this shy, beautiful, elusive creature and to the creation of The Red Panda Project.  From 2002-2003, as a Nepal Fulbright Scholar, Brian became one of only 10 people to have studied red panda in the wild.  For his study, he returned to Ilam and identified the distribution of red panda and threats to their habitat in Eastern Nepal. Through this research, Brian realized that something had to be done to raise awareness about the plight of red panda in Eastern Nepal and it was this inspiration that led to the creation of The Red Panda Project.