Flamingo Land welcomes endangered newborn red panda cub into its zoo
Flamingo Land, situated near Malton, has announced the news that their carnivore keepers have discovered a newborn red panda cub.
The cub was born to parents Tai Jang and Bai Jiao, both 11-years-old, and the newborn is the fourth successful birth of this endangered species at the zoo.
Ross Snipp, Park Executive, said: "All births are exciting, but even more so when a species is threatened in the wild.
“Our red panda pair has been at the zoo for 10 years and has proven to be very successful parents.
“Their other three cubs have left us to continue the breeding program at zoos in Sweden, the Netherlands and Wales, all coordinated by the European Ex-Situ breeding Programme (EEP)".
Red pandas are found throughout the Himalayan mountain range from Nepal to China, but their wild population is still decreasing and they are threatened by habitat loss and hunting.
When panda cubs are born they rely heavily on their mother and will not leave the nest box for a couple of months and during this time the keepers will keep disturbance to a minimum.
In the next two weeks, the Flamingo Land vet should be able to carry out a health check on the cub, check whether it is male or female and vaccinate it.
Hopefully visitors to the zoo will be able to spot the cub out and about towards the end of the summer.