Ryo and Pele, Red Pandas at the Memphis Zoo, welcomed their
first cub on July 1. Unfortunately, mom was unable to care for her tiny cub, named Justin, so he was moved to
the zoo’s hospital where he is being hand-reared.
Justin is being bottle fed at the hospital, where he will remain for another
month. Keepers will gradually begin to thicken his milk to a gruel-like
consistency with crushed leaf-eater biscuits, which adult Red Pandas enjoy in
their daily diet. Once he is adjusted to the
gruel mix, Justin will be weaned off the bottle and begin eating his food
from a bowl.
In addition to a new diet, Justin is also getting a potential mate. Because it’s
best to hand-rear Red Panda cubs in pairs, a female Red Panda cub born at the
Bronx Zoo is being transferred to the Memphis Zoo to be raised alongside
Justin.
“We are very excited about the birth of Justin,” Matt Thompson, Director of
Animal Programs said. “Red Pandas are endangered. There are some estimates that
put the number of adult Red Pandas in the wild around 2,500. Justin has a very
favorable genetic lineage, and we’re hopeful that he’ll be one of many Red
Panda cubs born here at the Memphis Zoo.”
Red Pandas, once thought to be related to Giant Pandas, are actually related to
raccoons. These nocturnal animals are tree dwellers, and have large, bushy
tails to maintain balance while climbing. Red Pandas are native to the Himalayan
Mountains in Asia.
Photo Credit: Memphis Zoo
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