Debrecen Zoo welcomes suitor for female red pandas

Today Hungary’s first zoo outside the capital is happy to announce yet another significant acquisition and professional achievement as, following six years of preparation, they finally welcomed a male red panda under the European Endangered Species Program (EAZA EEP), as part of which they have been home to two genetically valuable females since 2014.

Although international animal transfers had to be postponed by months due to the outbreak situation, the young and fit male named Pandita arrived in Debrecen on June 12 from Zoo Dortmund, Germany. Still in quarantine after his long journey, he is already exhibited next to the twin red panda girls’ enclosure, often munching on homegrown bamboo.

A true visitor favorite at the Zoo, red or lesser pandas (Ailurus fulgens) are now the only extant species within the family Ailuridae. Interestingly, they were the first animals to be referred to as “pandas” – presumably deriving from “nigalya ponya,” the Nepalese for “eater of bamboo” – while giant pandas were described and named so at a later point.

Their common name in a number of languages, which translates to “cat-bear” of “bear-cat,” comes from the combination of their bear-like looks and cat-like agility and self-grooming.

Native to temperate montane forests at elevations ranging from 2000 to 4800 m in the Himalayas, Northern Burma, West Sichuan and Yunnan, red pandas are solitary animals that rest on tree branches during the day and mostly forage for food at night. While considered carnivores based on their anatomy, the vast majority of their diet consists of bamboo, with occasional fruits, lichens, arthropods and eggs. When eating bamboo, their opposable false thumbs – an adaptation of their wrist bones – are excellent for grabbing stalks and picking shoots and leaves. On average, they spend over half the day sleeping, presumably due to their low-energy diet, using their long and bushy tail as a pillow or blanket.