Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire recently welcomed a new member of their family who symbolizes hope!
Little Red, a baby red panda that was born just a month after its father died, is the zoo’s newest bundle of joy and miraculous addition to their species.
“The birth of Little Red creates a beautiful ending for a tragic, heartbreaking story that shocked the community in the month of June,” said Aaron Whitnall, operations co-ordinator at the zoo. He was talking about Nam Pang, who passed away due to Addison’s disease.
Nam Pang and Tilly, Little Red’s parents, are both part of the Ex-Situ Breeding Program of the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA), which objective is to produce and maintain healthy populations of animals of concern to the organization. But, the birth of Little Red is viewed as a miracle because it has taken four years for Nam Pang and Tilly to finally have a cub.
Currently, red pandas are listed as an endangered species with less than 2,500 of them left in the wild. Even though they are called red pandas, these adorable creatures are not closely related to giant pandas. They have been classified under their own unique family, Ailuridae, with the most probable kinship with raccoons, skunks, and weasels.
Red pandas are fond of eating bamboo, but their ancestors were actually carnivores. Over time, these animals had a shift in their diet and now they eat approximately 20,000 leaves a day. But these amazing creatures may also eat insects, grubs, fruits, and roots.
Red pandas are found in Eastern Himalayas — in the lands of China, Bhutan, Myanmar, India, and Nepal. They used to be populous, but poaching, habitat destruction, and getting caught in traps intended for other animals have caused the rapid decline in red panda population.
It is why the birth of Little Red is great news to the world! There is hope that their species can still be saved through diligent conservation efforts.
This article by Doris de Luna was first published by The Animal Rescue Site.
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