The birth of twin red panda cubs at Whipsnade zoo offers “double hope for the species” whose existence is under threat, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) has said.
ZSL, which runs the zoo in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, announced the birth of the twins on Wednesday. They were born last month, on 25 June, to the red pandas Ruby and Nilo, and will be given names after their first vet visit at eight weeks.
The pair, whose sex is yet to be determined, each weighed just 113g at birth. They have not yet ventured out from the nest, where zookeepers say they are being well cared for by their parents. Red pandas are blind for the first 30 days of their lives and heavily reliant on their mother.
Staff had suspected that Ruby was pregnant for the first time and tried to make her comfortable.
Grant Timberlake, a zookeeper, said: “We were ecstatic when we spotted her curled up in one of the nesting boxes we had prepared, using her bushy red tail to keep the two cubs warm.
“Ruby has been doing an incredible job feeding and caring for the twins, so we’re leaving the family to bond together, only checking in on them when she pops outside to eat.”
The red pandas, which are native to the Himalayas and western China, have been declining in numbers due to illegal trading, habitat loss, a decline in their main food source of bamboo, poaching and deforestation. The WWF has predicted that the number of red pandas left in the wild could be as low at 2,500.
“These twin cubs give us double hope for the species, as they were born as part of an important European breeding programme for endangered red pandas, designed to keep a backup population safe in conservation zoos – while we tackle the issues they’re facing in the wild,” Timberlake added.
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Whipsnade zoo is one of two facilities owned by the ZSL, a charity that specialises in the worldwide conservation of animals and their habitats. The charity also owns London zoo.
Visitors to Whipsnade, which is home to more than 11,000 animals, will be unable to see the baby twins for a few months – and Ruby may also spend more time indoors. However, Nilo is expected to still be visible for visitors.