{"id":2036,"date":"2016-04-05T22:06:03","date_gmt":"2016-04-05T12:06:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=2036"},"modified":"2016-04-14T22:32:02","modified_gmt":"2016-04-14T12:32:02","slug":"melbourne-zoos-panda-twins-progressing-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?p=2036","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne Zoo’s panda twins progressing well"},"content":{"rendered":"Red panda twins born at Melbourne Zoo are progressing well after making their first public appearance during a vet check and vaccination.\r\n\r\nChristina Cheng vaccinated the cubs against feline enteritis and two forms of feline respiratory disease.\r\n\r\nThe male twins were also microchipped to provide an ID for their health records.\r\n\r\nKeepers gave the cubs Nepalese names, relating to one of the countries where their species is found in the wild.\r\n\r\n‘Keta’ means ‘boy’ in Nepalese, and ‘Mandu’ is an abbreviation of Kathmandu. Mandu is the heavier of the two, weighing in at 853g to Keta’s 815g.\r\n\r\nFollowing the veterinary check, keepers returned the cubs to their nest box.\r\n\r\nThe box is consistent with the way red pandas behave in the wild, where tree hollows are the most common nesting site in remote bamboo forests.\r\n\r\nMelbourne Zoo\u2019s Head Veterinarian, Michael Lynch, said keepers are now introducing the twins to the weaning process, which can take several months.\r\n\r\n\u201cWeaning can be problematic, so we\u2019re trying to encourage good eating habits early,\u201d he said.\r\n\r\n\u201cIn the wild, young red pandas would be eating bamboo leaves and shoots and occasional invertebrates, but in captivity it\u2019s possible for them to get hooked on sweeter fruit.\u201d\r\n\r\nLynch said red panda cubs can lose weight during the weaning process, so it is a \u201ccritical time\u201d for vets and keepers to monitor their progress.\r\n\r\n\u201cThey have just recently started to emerge after three months, and they were not supremely confident with climbing trees at first,\u201d he said.\r\n\r\n\u201cBut it was interesting to see that within 24 hours their competency of climbing increased impressively.\u201d\r\n\r\nLynch added that while the red pandas are \u201cobviously very cute\u201d, they are an endangered species and do not mate commonly.\r\n\r\n\u201cThey only come in to heat for 24 hours, so you need everything going right when that happens,\u201d he said.\r\n\r\n\u201cIf you disturb the process, it\u2019s possible for carnivores to abandon their young, but thankfully things are going well and the public have been kept back from the display.\r\n\r\n\u201cIt has been a big effort from all concerned.\u201d\r\n\r\nPrior to the August breeding season, keepers installed various nesting boxes around the red panda exhibit, so female Roshani could choose a comfortable spot to give birth and look after her cubs, which were born on December 10 last year.\r\n\r\nCarnivore Department Manager Adrian Howard said keepers installed monitors in the nest boxes before the brief breeding season.\r\n\r\n\u201cSo for the first time we have been able to keep a close eye on the cubs during their earliest days and monitor their behaviour after any disturbance,\u201d he said.\r\n\r\nRed pandas are born blind and helpless and are classified as vulnerable by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).\r\n\r\nWhile poaching remains a problem for red pandas, loss of their forested habitat is the most significant reason the species is threatened in the wild.\r\nSAM WORRAD<\/strong>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Red panda twins born at Melbourne Zoo are progressing well after making their first public appearance during a vet check and vaccination. Christina Cheng vaccinated the cubs against feline enteritis and two forms of feline respiratory disease. The male twins were also microchipped to provide an ID for their health records. Keepers gave the cubs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1592,1711,1712,1713,1077,1076,1203,1710],"class_list":["post-2036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-birth","tag-christina-cheng","tag-keta","tag-mandu","tag-melbourne-zoo","tag-michael-lynch","tag-pandas","tag-red-pandas"],"rise-blocks_total_comments":0,"rise-blocks_categories":[{"term_id":5,"name":"News","slug":"news","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":5,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":403,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":5,"category_count":403,"category_description":"","cat_name":"News","category_nicename":"news","category_parent":0}],"rise-blocks_excerpt":"Red panda twins born at Melbourne Zoo are progressing well after making their first public appearance during a vet check and vaccination. Christina Cheng vaccinated the cubs against feline enteritis and two forms of feline respiratory disease. The male twins were also microchipped to provide an ID for their health records. Keepers gave the cubs Nepalese names, relating to one..","blog_post_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","full":""},"categories_names":{"5":{"name":"News","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?cat=5"}},"tags_names":{"1592":{"name":"birth","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=birth"},"1711":{"name":"Christina Cheng","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=christina-cheng"},"1712":{"name":"Keta","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=keta"},"1713":{"name":"Mandu","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=mandu"},"1077":{"name":"Melbourne Zoo","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=melbourne-zoo"},"1076":{"name":"Michael Lynch","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=michael-lynch"},"1203":{"name":"pandas","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=pandas"},"1710":{"name":"Red pandas","link":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/?tag=red-pandas"}},"comments_number":"0","wpmagazine_modules_lite_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","cvmm-medium":"","cvmm-medium-plus":"","cvmm-portrait":"","cvmm-medium-square":"","cvmm-large":"","cvmm-small":"","full":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2036"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2041,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2036\/revisions\/2041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theveterinarian.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}