A new rare baby red panda was born at the Paradise Wildlife Park in Hertfordshire, England, sparking hope for the critically endangered species. This adorable cub made its debut over the summer, and recently, it just passed its very first health check with perfect scores.
Born to a mommy named Tilly, and the father, Nam Pang, the zoo has yet to find out whether the cub is a boy or a girl, and they wanted to wait until they were certain of its gender before giving the adorable new baby its permanent name.
Although they attempted to check its sex during this last health check, experts had a difficult time because this little ball of fluff was incredibly fidgety, and figuring out whether it is male or female during the checkup was “impossible,” the vet claimed. Rather than leave the adorable red panda nameless, the team at the zoo decided to name it Little Red, which was perfect considered its overall ginger appearance.
Despite the difficulty in attempting to figure out its gender, considering this was the little cub’s very first health checkup, everything else went swimmingly.
Although everything is well with Little Red after his birth in July, sadly, his father passed away just one month before the red panda’s birth. The zoo had been trying to successfully breed the mama and papa bears for around four years, all in line with the European Ex Situ Breeding Program. This initiative works to breed endangered animal species in captivity in its attempts to guarantee the continuation of those particular species for future generations.
The program didn’t know if they were successful until the closed-circuit cameras managed to capture the surprise birth of this little creature.
Since Little Red’s birth, the zoo has been calling it ‘a miracle,’ and the operations coordinator of Paradise Wildlife Park, Aaron Whitnall, explained, “This cub has become a symbol of hope, after the tragic passing of Nam Pang.”
According to animal experts, Little Red’s first six months are truly the most critical, which is why the cub is being monitored despite the fact that the little critter appears to be very strong and active.
Over the past two decades, the population of red pandas has decreased immensely. In fact, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) stated that currently, there are less than 10,000 red pandas left in the wild. This is mostly due to their illegal capture, as well as the huge reduction in their natural habitats.
The hope is that through captivity breeding, it will give a chance for future generations to still have red pandas in the world.
Take a look at Little Red’s health checkup in the video below:
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