Three red panda cubs have been born at the Edmonton Valley Zoo this year.
A male red panda, Tango, was born on July 30 to parents Rina and Kalden.
A month later, twins, Willow and Kola were born to parents Pip and Kalden on August 23.
All the cubs are doing well and have recently ventured out into their new home. They are now on display for the public to see.
The youngest red pandas will stay at the Edmonton Valley Zoo until the spring when they will be moved to different zoos as a part of the Species Survival Plan (SSP), a worldwide conservation effort to preserve red pandas.
“One is actually going to Winnipeg that would be Tango. The little female, she’ll be going somewhere in the [United] States,” said Wade Krasnow, team leader of animal care at the Edmonton Valley Zoo.
Krasnow said there are about 50 of this subspecies of panda in North America; the Edmonton Valley Zoo owns 14 of them.
“We’re happy to send them off for breeding and for other people to enjoy seeing these pandas and helping to conserve them,” said Krasnow.
Red pandas are arboreal mammals native to Asia. They are an endangered species with an estimated population of fewer than 10,000 adults left in the wild.
