A new trio of fluffy, rust-colored youngsters is on exhibit at the Toledo Zoo today.
Visitors now can see three female red pandas happily spread out on logs and snoozing in one of Primate Forest’s indoor enclosures. The 1-year-olds arrived from California in mid-May and are the first at the zoo since the early 1990s. While they are most active at dawn and dusk, feeding times will allow visitors to see them up and about.
Zoo spokesman Andi Norman said the creatures native to the Himalayan areas of Nepal, China, and Mayanmar are part of the zoo’s ongoing efforts to provide more year-round opportunities for visitors.
“Since they are cold-weather animals, it’s a perfect thing to have in the winter time,” she said.
Red pandas aren't actually pandas at all, but make up their own scientific animal family. They grow to the size of a large house cat at 12 to 20 pounds and live about eight years in captivity.
Keeper Koral Stoddard said Maiya, Leela, and Willa have to stay indoors in the air conditioning in the summer, but will tumble and bound through the snow in winter.
“They actually don’t have fleshy pads on their paws, it’s just thick, dense fur so the snow and ice doesn't bother them,” she said.
To stay warm outside during their naps, “they will lay in a ball and wrap their tail around their face,” Ms. Stoddard said. They also have an extended wrist bone that acts somewhat like a thumb and grasping hands kind of like a primate to help them climb and handle bamboo — their main food item.
Red pandas are listed as a vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources’ Red List of Threatened Species because of deforestation, logging, and agriculture. Fewer than 10,000 red pandas are estimated to be surviving in the wild, and are fairly elusive.
“They are one of the few species of animals that will live high up in the mountains of the Himalayas with the snow leopards,” Ms. Stoddard said.
Ms. Norman said the zoo does not have plans at this time to breed the animals.
Contact Alexandra Mester: amester@theblade.com, 419-724-6066, or on Twitter @AlexMesterBlade.
First Published June 27, 2015, 4:00 a.m.
