Milwaukee County Zoo Welcomes Red Panda to its Collection
May, 2002

Two red pandas, who arrived at the Milwaukee County Zoo in November of 2001, are now part of the permanent collection, on exhibit directly in front of the existing camel yard. The red pandas (both male), He-Ping and Wendall, arrived from the Sacramento Zoo and the Greenville Zoo in South Carolina, and have been in quarantine in the Zoo's Hospital for the past few months. Following are several facts on red pandas:

Appearance:

Red pandas have soft, deep red fur and white face markings, similar to raccoons. They are fairly nocturnal, as indicated by their well-developed whiskers.

Characteristics:
For 50 years, the red panda was the only panda known to man. More widespread than the giant panda, the red panda also has an extra "thumb," although it is less well developed.

Red pandas have a varied, mainly vegetarian diet -- fruit, roots, bamboo shoots and acorns are reported to be eaten by these animals in the wild. In captivity, they readily consume meat, so it's likely that in the wild they eat some insects. Excellent climbers, red pandas forage mostly in trees.

Breeding season is from mid-January through early March. Gestation of approximately 130 days means cubs are usually born in June or early July.

As with the giant panda, the red panda is classified as a carnivore (meat eater), but feeds like a herbivore, consuming plant material almost exclusively. Approximately 95% of their diet is bamboo. Without this giant grass, the red panda would perish.

The Milwaukee County Zoo is having fresh bamboo shipped in four times a year from a Southern grower.

Habitat:

Red pandas are found from the Himalayas to South China. They favor remote, high-altitude forests.

There are about 170 red pandas in captivity, approximately half of them are captive-bred.

Approximately 5,000 to 6,000 red pandas remain in the wild. The species is threatened because of a decrease in bamboo in the forests of their native Himalayan Mountain habitats.

We have a small video of the Red Pandas, click here to view the video.

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