It’s always an exciting day at a zoo when new baby animals are born, but it’s even better when the newborns are part of an endangered species. Each new arrival is a step towards ensuring their future survival.
Now, one zoo is celebrating the births of adorable red panda triplets, an inspiring sign of hope for an endangered species.
Yesterday, the Lincoln Children’s Zoo, in Nebraska, announced some exciting news: three red panda cubs, one female and two male, were born on August 10, to mom Tián and dad Rowan.
The zoo said that Tián was busy taking care of the three newborns. “It’s rare for a red panda to raise triplets successfully, but Tián is an experienced and attentive mom, and keepers are able to check in and weigh the cubs as needed because of the great relationship our animal team has built with her!” the zoo wrote in a Facebook post. “The cubs are healthy and thriving.”
In the wild, red panda mothers will create nests using tree hollows or rock crevices lined with plant material. The zoo has replicated this environment by creating six nest boxes made out of wood wool and bamboo. Red panda mothers instinctively move their cubs around to protect them from predators, so Tián will have plenty of nests to choose from.
The cubs are not available for public viewing yet, as they are being kept behind the scenes during these crucial early days of development. Tián will spent nearly all her time caring for the newborns. But the red pandas should make their public zoo debut sometime in December.
Now three months old, the cubs are doing well, learning how to climb and venturing out of the nest boxes, the zoo wrote in a social media post.
The news is especially good because the red panda is an endangered species, as listed on the IUCN Red List since 2015. Native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China, the species has been threatened by poaching and loss of habitat due to deforestation.
“Red pandas are an endangered species whose population has declined by 50 percent over the last 20 years. The birth of these triplets is important for animal conservation efforts, and the red pandas at the Zoo help to raise awareness of the threats their counterparts face in the wild such as habitat loss,” Evan Killeen, Lincoln Children’s Zoo CEO, said in a press release.
What adorable red panda triplets, and a great sign of hope for this endangered species! Please share this story!
