An adorable female red panda brought to a Swiss zoo from England is set to start a new generation for the endangered species.
The three-year-old Tiang Tang from Chester Zoo is currently getting used to the Himalayan enclosure in Zurich which she’ll share with two other red pandas, an elderly female named Shang, 13, and a two-year-old male named Siddhi.
She arrived in Switzerland at the beginning of August, 2022.
She was reportedly well received by her comrades in her new living environment despite a few minor quarrels at the beginning.
Officials hope that the endangered animal – brought as part of the European Conservation Breeding Program (EEP) – will enrich the zoo’s red panda population.
They expect that she and two-year-old male Siddhi, who was brought from the Brno Zoo in the Czech Republic in 2021, will provide offspring in the near future.
Zurich Zoo revealed in the statement obtained by Newsflash: “The second female Shang being 13 years old is probably too old for breeding.”
They added: “Small pandas are endangered in nature, which makes successful breeding in zoos in terms of species protection all the more important.”
(Zoo Zurich, Enzo Franchini/Newsflash)
Red pandas – also known as the lesser panda – are native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China where they are considered ‘Endangered’ according to IUCN’s Red List Of Threatened Species.
This, as reported by the zoo, makes successful breeding in captivity truly important in terms of the species’ protection.
Red pandas in the wild are considered loners who only meet during mating season.
In addition, the male takes no role in raising the young.
Similar to giant pandas, red pandas also predominantly feed with bamboo, even though they are not closely related.
For decades, scientists have debated whether red pandas are true bears like giant pandas.
Current thinking is that they could be more closely related to members of the raccoon family.
(Zoo Zurich, Enzo Franchini/Newsflash)
To find out more about the author, editor or agency that supplied this story – please click below.
Story By: Georgina Jadikovska, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Newsflash
The Ananova page is created by and dedicated to professional, independent freelance journalists. It is a place for us to showcase our work. When our news is sold to our media partners, we will include the link here.
