North Yorkshire’s top theme park and award-winning zoo has welcome the birth of a red panda that has been hailed as ‘hugely important’ for the conservation of the threatened species.
Located on the outskirts of Malton in North Yorkshire, the park took to its social channels to announce the news writing: “We have some very exciting news!! On the 30th of June 2023, our two red pandas, Bai Jiao and Tai Jang, welcomed their baby red panda cub into the world!”
The new cub was discovered on the 20th June and is the park’s fourth successful panda birth and one of just 10 born in the UK in the past year.
Due to the secretive nature of these animals, zookeepers had not been able to confirm Tai Jang’s pregnancy, but did expect a birth around this time of year.
Visitors won’t be able to see the latest arrival for a while yet as it will be being looked after in its nest box.
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Park Executive Ross Snipp said: “All births are exciting, but even more so when a species is threatened in the wild.
“Our red panda pair have been at the zoo for 10 years and have proven to be very successful parents.
“When panda cubs are born they rely heavily on their mother and will not leave the nest box for a couple of months. During this time the keepers will keep disturbance to a minimum.
“However in the next two weeks our vet should be able to carry out a health check on the cub, check whether it is male or female and vaccinate it.”
Towards the end of the summer, visitors might be able to get to visit the new red panda – finger crossed!
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Feature Image Credit: Flamingo Land
