Sydney’s Taronga Zoo recently welcomed the arrival of two red panda cubs and is celebrating by allowing online subscribers to enjoy free behind the scenes access to the babies in their purpose-built, soundproof nesting box via a brand-new Red Panda Cub Cam. The yet to be named cubs were born on December 8, 2021, and have been bonding with their mother, Amala, and father, Pabu, ahead of making their first public appearance in Taronga Zoo’s custom-made red panda habitat.
According to keepers, Amala and Pabu are experienced parents, though the cubs have been closely observed in their nesting box since birth. “Amala is very attentive and nurturing,” Carnivore Keeper Rebecca Baldwin said. “Through the monitoring of our CCTV cameras, we can see that she is constantly grooming and cleaning the cubs and is encouraging them to take their first wobbly steps within the security of their nest box.”
As the 51st and 52nd red panda cubs to be born at Taronga Zoo, the new arrivals also represent another success for the global red panda breeding program, which commenced at the Zoo in 1977. “The birth of these red pandas is very significant, because they’re not doing too well out in the wild,” Baldwin explained. With less than 10,000 animals remaining in the wild, the International Union for Conservation of Nature has officially classed red pandas as endangered. A major factor contributing to declining wild red panda populations is habitat loss, particularly in the Himalayan regions of Nepal and China, where the environment in which red pandas prefer to live is slowly but surely being encroached upon by humans. Illegal wildlife trafficking constitutes another threat to the species, as does accidental trapping of wild red pandas in snares intended for other animals such as deer and wild boars.
In addition to being important to the continuing success of the red panda breeding program at Taronga Zoo, the timing of the cubs’ arrival could not have been more perfect, coinciding with the release of a new film Disney and Pixar film titled Turning Red which features a red panda in cartoon form. Access to the cubs via the Taronga Zoo’s new Red Panda Cub Cam is being sponsored by Turning Red, which released on the Disney+ streaming platform in March 2022.
Turning Red tells the story of a 13-year-old Chinese-Canadian girl named Meilin “Mei” Lee who turns into a giant red panda whenever she gets excited or stressed. After her initial transformation – which also has the side effect of turning her previously black hair bright red – Mei discovers her ancestors had a mystical connection with red pandas. The movie subsequently unfolds as an entertaining coming of age tale, with Mei navigating a path between toeing the line as an obedient daughter and embracing the chaos of youth, all while trying to deal with the intense emotions that cause her to transform into a gigantic red panda.
Even two months after their birth, Taronga Zoo’s new cubs are incredibly tiny when compared with Mei when she takes red panda form. Thanks to their small size and current reluctance to leave their mother’s side, however, the Zoo’s Red Panda Cub Cam has been able to provide viewers with a keeper’s eye view of the new arrivals since they were born. Touted as allowing subscribers to access exclusive video content and behind the scenes action, the Red Panda Cub Cam has already shown the red panda cubs bonding with their parents and is expected to capture footage of the cubs as they hit various developmental milestones, including taking their first steps and emerging from their nesting box for the first time. As Baldwin noted, “whilst they are still small and weighing only a couple of hundred grams, the cubs are spending their time within the security of their nest box which makes for great viewing. They won’t start to venture out under the cover of darkness until they’re about 12 weeks old.”
Taronga Conservation Society CEO Cam Kerr AO agreed the Red Panda Cub Cam was a great initiative that enabled audiences to engage with and be educated about this endangered species. “Being able to connect visitors and our global audiences with the world’s remarkable wildlife is at the forefront of what we do,” Kerr said. “Platforms like this Red Panda Cub Cam is an example of how we connect our audiences with wildlife and in doing so, inspire them to act for the wild.”
In addition to sponsoring the Red Panda Cub Cam, Turning Red is sponsoring a competition to win an overnight Taronga Roar and Snore experience for open to anyone who adopts a red panda via the Taronga Zoo Parent program before 17 March 2022.
While the Red Panda Cub Cam will only be available for a limited time, most likely until the cubs leave the safety and comfort of their nesting box and begin to explore their habitat at Taronga Zoo more fully, the newest additions to Taronga’s red panda family have already become ambassadors for their species. They may be small, but the red panda cubs are already helping raise awareness of the plight of their endangered counterparts in the wild and encouraging support of Taronga Zoo’s important conservation work.
Free access to Taronga Zoo’s Red Panda Cub Cam can be gained for a limited time at www.taronga.org.au/redpandacam
JAI HUMEL