Isle of Man Wildlife Park gets a new red panda

It was a special Christmas for one resident at the the Wildlife Park, Ballaugh - red panda Zuleika was introduced to new mate Frisco.


Since Zuleika's previous mate died 18 months ago, park staff have been keen to find him a mate in time for the 2009 breeding season. Frisco, from Hayle, Cornwall, was identified as a surplus female at the Paradise Park Zoo

The full article can be found here.

Nice story from China

Soldiers rescue lesser panda from wild dogs
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-12-22 09:01

A lesser panda was spared a grizzly fate at the claws of wild dogs when armed police soldiers came to its rescue in Bomi county in the Tibet autonomous region on Saturday.

Zhang Jingbo, a soldier of an armed police team working on a road construction project in the county, found several dogs attacking a small cat-like animal while working that morning.

He and his comrade-in-arms drove away the dogs and carried the injured critter back to their barracks.

Later the soldiers learned the animal they had saved was a lesser panda protected by the state.

(www.cnr.cn)

The perfect gift

Please consider "adopting" a red panda or other animal at your favorite zoo as a gift to the animal lovers on your list. Your donation will be used to feed and take care of that animal. You could also adopt a red panda from or make a donation to The Red Panda Network.

Denver cubs growing up

Amaya and Takeo are now out on exhibit at the Denver Zoo!

My ear!

Denver Zoo cubs doing well

Here is a video of the Denver cubs' latest check-up. The male's name is Takeo and the female Amaya.

http://videocenter.denverpost.com/services/link/bcpid934052406/bctid1815800350

amazing babies

Double triplet joy for endangered Red Pandas

By Lucy Cockcroft

Last Updated: 0::01am BST 10/09/2008

Conservationists in China are celebrating the birth of eight rare Red Panda cubs, including two sets of triplets.

The cubs were all born earlier this year at Fuzhou Panda World Research Centre in east China' s Fujian Province.

	Workers hold three of the eight Red Panda cubs born this year

Researchers are leading a breeding programme at the centre to help swell the number of Red Pandas.

Their population is estimated at fewer than 2,500 mature adults, and continues to decline as their natural forest habitat is cleared.

A spokesman at Fuzhou said: "There had been ten cubs born at the centre, including two sets of triplets and one pair of twins, but sadly two did not survive.

"The eight remaining cubs were shown to the public for the first time today."

The research centre, which is also home to Giant Pandas, is famous for its scientific research programs, including the successful cloning of a panda embryo.

Scientists there were also the first to detect several rare diseases among the panda population.

The Red Panda or Ailurus fulgens - "shining cat" - is a mostly herbivorous mammal, and prefers to feed on bamboo.

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Unlike the Giant Panda, it is not a bear and shares more characteristics with racoons. It is slightly larger than a domestic cat at about 15-23in (40-60cm) long and 6-13lbs (3-6 kg) in weight.

Their average lifespan is 8 to 10 years, but they can live to be 15-years-old.

However, In southwest China the Red Panda is hunted for its pelt and especially for its highly-valued bushy tail.

Their fur is often used for local cultural ceremonies, and in weddings the bridegroom traditionally carries the hide.

watch a red panda cub grow up

The Lincoln Childrens Zoo has announced the Cub Club! For a tax-deductible donation of $60 you get exclusive access to videos of the 6 week old cub, zookeeper's blog and many other benefits! Find out more information here.

New babies at the Erie Zoo

Twin red pandas were born at the Erie Zoo in mid-June! With a total of 11 babies born there in recent years, it makes Erie one of the most successful U.S. zoos at breeding red pandas. I will be making a trip soon & will hopefully get some good pictures and videos to share!

Baby red panda adopted by cat dies :(

Baby red panda adopted by cat dies

Friday 18 July 2008

The baby red panda adopted by a domestic cat at Amsterdam's Artis zoo has died, the zoo authorities said on Friday.

A post mortem on the panda showed its windpipe was full of milk, meaning it had choked to death, the zoo said in a statement. The panda, an endangered species, had been making good progress.

The panda was one of two born on June 30 and abandoned by its mother hours later. The other baby died soon after birth. The cat, owned by a keeper, had just given birth to four kittens and readily accepted the new addition to her family.

From dutchnews.nl

Kitty adopts abandoned panda

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — A zookeeper's house cat has adopted a baby red panda abandoned by its mother and is nursing the cub along with her own kittens, the Artis zoo said Wednesday.

The entire article can be found here.

video of the Knoxville babies

Baby boom

Another set of twins was born this week, this time at the Knoxville Zoo, the "Red Panda Capitol of the World".

http://www.wate.com/global/story.asp?s=8530490



I visited this zoo a few years ago and found it to be very nice. I got to talk to the keeper, Sarah, and she was very friendly & helpful. They recently built a new exhibit for their red pandas and I would love to make another trip there.

Red panda twins!

This is the time of year that the Erie Zoo's red pandas are usually born. I hope to make a trip there soon to find out if there will be babies this year.

Red panda twins born at Edmonton zoo
edmontonjournal.com
Published: 10:47 am

EDMONTON - Twin baby red pandas made their first public appearance at Edmonton's Valley Zoo this morning.

Tai and Pip, who are less than a month old, were the only red pandas born in North America this year. The babies had to be separated from their mother shortly after birth when she started handling them aggressively.

Pictures and the entire article can be found here:
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=77a4d469-bbf0-477f-ae84-5d23ea43f3cc

Kung Fu Panda

We went to see Kung Fu Panda last night. Despite Master Shifu not being a very accurate looking red panda, we enjoyed the movie. It was funny, and had a good message. The animation was beautiful!

Kung Fu Panda screening

Anyone near Palo Alto, CA? Please help out red pandas by attending a special screening of Kung Fu Panda at the Aquarius Theater on June 21, 2008.

http://www.redpandanetwork.org/getinvolved/kungfu.php

Good news for Red Pandas in Nepal

A mission by the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation’s Himalayan Landscape Project has found red pandas in Langtang National Park in Nepal. The Park is planning a project which will benefit both red pandas and people, according to this article:
http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/detail.php?article_id=1234&cat_id=8

Langtang National Park:


View Larger Map

red pandas in Myanmar & China

After the recent tragedies in these areas, I e-mailed Brian Williams, founder of The Red Panda Network (formerly The Red Panda Project) to find some information on how the red pandas may have fared. Here is his response:

In Myanmar (Burma), the cyclone hit lowland - midland tropical areas of the southeastern corner of the country and red panda are found
in the far northwestern corner. So, fortunately red panda were spared from the loss of their habitat in this region.

In China, the quake occurred in red panda habitat in Sichuan province, based on research done in New Zealand (http://www.jstor.org/pss/176646), I would venture to guess that red panda habitat within a 10 km range of the epicenter was damaged severely and less severely within and beyond 30km. It would be interesting to
travel to the region and do an assessment.

Please keep the people and wildlife in these areas in your thoughts and I encourage you to visit The Red Panda Network. Brian has been very helpful, and it is just an amazing organization. I am honored to be mentioned on their site! Many thanks!

Dustin Hoffman sets the record straight

Dustin Hoffman is the voice behind Shifu, the wise mentor who happens to be a red panda, in the upcoming movie "Kung Fu Panda". The problem is, Shifu doesn't really look like a red panda. Here is a quote from Hoffman clearing up any confusion:

The press release says your character is a two-foot tall red panda, but before I read that, I saw the film and I thought you were a raccoon. So which is it? And how do you get into the mindset of either of those animals?

Well, I've always been in the mindset of a raccoon, so that's a redundant question. But you cannot believe how many people have asked me whether I'm a rodent or a raccoon. Somehow, no matter how wonderful the animators of this film were, they have not made it specific enough.

I am a rare red panda. I cannot be responsible for their errors.

The entire article can be found here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7407088.stm

A red panda quiz

Here is a quiz about red pandas. Post how you do here!

http://www.gotoquiz.com/red_panda_quiz_1

sad red panda news :(

http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/new_jersey/20080428_ap_rarepandadiesatturtlebackzoo.html

the science of red pandas

Here are some links to two interesting articles about the history and taxonomy of red pandas.

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/04/red_panda_empire.php

http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2008/04/proper_pandas.php

one runaway panda found

http://www.gallowaygazette.co.uk/news/One-of-escaped-pandas-found.3983798.jp


Hope little Isla is found safe soon too!

Brrr...

http://www.kentnews.co.uk/kent-news/Snow-breaks-the-ice-for-Red-Pandas-newsinkent11861.aspx?news=local

New babies at the Canberra Zoo

Twin male red pandas make their debut at the Canberra National Zoo & Aquarium.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/11/2214494.htm

new red panda at the Roger Williams Park Zoo

The Roger Williams Park Zoo in Rhode Island is currently building an exhibit for their new red panda. They hope to be completed by late May.

http://rwpzoo.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/home-home-at-the-zoo/

added new videos to YouTube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r57Zu5x40s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtC3mOdttZU

Red panda orphan is making good progress

FIGHTING FIT: Maggie the red panda orphan is making good progress

View Gallery

By LOTTIE RAY

MAGGIE the orphaned red panda is now five months old, out of danger and a bit of a handful.

Born on July 1 at the Wildlife Park, the orphaned panda was hand-reared after her mother died from cancer.

Luckily, she spent three vital weeks with her mother before she died as only three orphaned red pandas have been successfully hand-reared in European zoos.

>> Red panda orphan makes public debut
See how she's changed - article includes video footage taken in August 2007

The red panda, also known as the fire fox, is an endangered species from Asia which actually belongs to the racoon family.

The Island's orphan, that was the size of a bag of sugar when her mother died, has been responding well to her 'surrogate mother', animal keeper John Clague.

He said he was confident Maggie, who is now two-thirds of the size of an adult red panda and nearly weaned off bottle milk, is out of danger.

He said: 'The only thing that might be a threat is any unforeseen illness that would have nothing to do with her upbringing. The hygiene aspect of things are still there in the preparation of her food but hand cleaning when handling her has all gone by the wayside now.'

When she was three months old John started introducing solid panda cake mix to her milk before trying to encourage her to feed herself.

He said: 'Fortunately that was a big turning point because it just simply happened one day at home. I placed some mixture into the bowl and she went straight to it and started lapping which was a great moment — it made life easier for everybody. She's been lapping from a bowl ever since.'

He said: 'All we would hope for now is for her to make the leap from liquid to solids. Once that happens we can say she is totally weaned.'
But he said Maggie was still very much a baby — each morning she cuddles and suckles on his neck for reassurance after being alone all night.

He takes Maggie home with him at night, but she spends the day at the Wildlife Park in a nursery where there is a tree for her to practice climbing on — which she has already mastered.

John said: 'In the afternoons she usually gets playful, but at night time she really does become a handful. She likes to climb and gamble about, jumping and racing around in my house. I usually give her an hour to exercise and build her muscles.'

Next spring John hopes that, if all goes well, Maggie will be moved into an outdoor pen next to her dad where visitors will be able to see her.

It has been arranged for her brother to go to Paignton Zoo in Devon soon which will free up his pen which has the tallest trees.

He said: 'Ideally her dad will be moved across to that one because he is obviously an expert climber and that will allow Maggie to have his pen which has far smaller trees that she'll hopefully learn to climb properly.

'I'll be watching her but I won't be in a position to climb up a tree and save her, so she's going to have to learn for herself.'

The full article contains 560 words and appears in n/a newspaper.

Last Updated: 14 November 2007 11:58 AM

From iomtoday.co.im

a new friend for the Philly red panda

Tuesday, Feb. 05, 2008

Philly zoo gets 2nd red panda

- The Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Zoo has a new tenant - a second red panda.

• http://www.kyw1060.com

Jing Li, a female red panda almost two years old, has joined the zoo as a companion to Sparkler, the zoo's 16-year-old male red panda.

Mark Hayes, a keeper for the zoo's carnivore team, says it's not what you think. He says Jing Li was brought in just for company for Sparkler. Zoo officials feel that she's too young and he's too old to mate, but zoos don't like to house the animals singly.

Jing Li is not the kind of black-and-white panda you might expect. These animals have a red, rust-colored fur, and their legs and underbelly are black. They also have a raccoon-like tail.

Jing Li was acquired from the Kansas City Zoo.

Information from: Karin Phillips/KYW-AM, http://www.kyw1060.com

He did look a little lonely last time I was there.