An endangered baby red panda was born at a zoo in Hertfordshire, England on July 16.
The first photos have just been unveiled. On July 16, an endangered red panda cub was born at Paradise Wildlife Park in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England. The zoo team hailed this event as a “symbol of hope”, says BBC News, adding that the birth of the animal is a miracle. Her father, Nam Pang, died a month before the panda was born, while her mother, Tilly, survived. The two animals had been part of an international breeding program for endangered species for four years.
Little Red rests in its enclosure at Broxbourne Zoo, Britain, in this image released August 16, 2022.
© Paradise Wildlife Park/Handout via REUTERS
Aaron Whitnall, zoo operations coordinator, said the birth of the animal, christened Little Red, was a way “to carry on the memory and legacy” of his father Nam Pang, after “his tragic death”. “It’s more than we ever imagined. The birth of Little Red provides a beautiful end to a tragic and heartbreaking story that shocked the community in June. Caregivers have not yet been able to determine Little Red’s gender and hope to do so by the time she is six months old.
Several births in June
In 2015, the “New York Times” warned of the disappearance of red pandas, victims of global warming, poaching and deforestation. “The red panda is classified as a ‘Vulnerable’ species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, as it faces many threats, such as the expansion of agriculture and the degradation of its habitat, due to forest fires. in particular”, writes for its part the Beauval Nature association on its website. The population of the red panda is estimated at less than 10,000 individuals worldwide and continues to decline.
Tilly and newborn cub, Little Red, at Broxbourne Zoo.
© Paradise Wildlife Park/Handout via REUTERS
Several red pandas have been born in recent weeks across Europe, thanks to the breeding program. At the beginning of August, the animal park of Boissière-du-Doré, in Loire-Atlantique, announced the birth of a baby in June. The same month, the park of Clères, in Normandy, also announced the arrival of a small animal, born from the couple of red pandas Tao and Chaya, already parents of Asa, who came into the world two years earlier. The Zoo de la Barben in the Bouches-du-Rhône, for its part, communicated on the birth of three small red pandas born on June 25. In 2018, the birth of two red pandas at the famous menagerie of the Jardin des Plantes in Paris also caused a stir.