Two New York City zoos have new pairs of red panda cubs. The four red panda cubs made their public debut last week at the Bronx Zoo and the Prospect Park Zoo, both of which are operated by the Wildlife Conservation Society.
The cubs are two sets of siblings, each comprised of a male and a female, and were all born this summer. The Bronx Zoo has one pair of siblings and the Prospect Park Zoo now has the other.
As cubs, red pandas are known for their soft, plush coats of red fur. As the cubs age, reaching adulthood in about 18 months, their fur will become a reddish brown that suits the animals well as camouflage in their native habitats of Nepal, India, Bhutan, China and Myanmar. Red pandas also have a thumb-like adaptation on their wrists that enables them to employ a high level of dexterity.
The panda cub pairs are each a different subspecies of red panda. The pair at the Bronx Zoo are a subspecies native to the western region of their Himalayan range, while the Brooklyn-based pair are members of the eastern Himalayan subspecies, which are characteristically darker and larger than their western counterparts.
Due to habitat loss caused by deforestation for fuel and timber use, the habitat of the red panda is threatened. The International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the red panda (Ailurus fulgens ) as a "vulnerable" species with a declining population.
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is actively making an effort to keep red panda populations stable. As part of its Species Survival Plan, the conservation group has seen a successful history of breeding red pandas through a cooperative breeding program done in conjunction with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The program has now successfully introduced red pandas to three New York zoos. The program is designed to enhance the genetic viability and demographic stability of animal populations in accredited zoos, the WCS said.