New Zealand zoo welcomes birth of twin Nepalese red panda cubs

 
A New Zealand zoo released footage of newborn Nepalese red panda cubs on Wednesday.

The twin cubs, which have yet to be named, were born on 3 January to four-year-old mother Bo and 13-year-old father Sagar at Auckland Zoo.          

Zoo officials told broadcaster TVNZ the cubs, which currently weigh just over 400 grams, are still "heavily dependent on their mum", and that they would not emerge from the nest box until they are around three months old.      

Auckland Zoo Carnivore Team Leader Lauren Booth said the birth was not only good news for zoo visitors but a valuable addition to an international breeding program.              

Sagar, the cubs' father, came from India's Darjeeling Zoo in 2010, according to Auckland Zoo.

Particularly for these guys, being a real boost for the Australasian red panda breeding program, and also the international program. Due to the genetics being quite valuable, because their father came over from India," she told TVNZ.                        

According to Auckland Zoo red pandas on average live up to 8-12 years in the wild and "considerably longer in zoos".                   

Booth said that while red pandas can be "quite docile and quite sleepy" on the rare occasions when they are active they can be "really full on and actually have quite an interesting personality".         

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species classifies them as "vulnerable" animals, with an estimated global population of around 10-thousand. 


AP