Endangered red panda gives birth to two cubs at Germany’s Karlsruhe Zoo

An endangered red panda has given birth to two cubs in the Karlsruhe Zoo which is located in the southern German state of Baden-Württemberg, reported state-owned international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW), on Friday (August 4).

This also comes days after the United Kingdom’s Whipsnade Zoo also announced the birth of twin red panda cubs. Notably, all four red panda cubs were born in two different parts of the world and share the same birthday, which is June 25.

First red panda birth in German zoo

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The announcement was made on the Karlsruhe Zoo’s Facebook page where they reported the birth of male and female cubs on Friday and said the birth was the first for a red panda inside the zoo.

A zoo spokesman told the German DPA news agency, that the cubs were taken out of the den for the first time on August 4 for their first checkup with a veterinarian. According to the zoo’s statement, the red panda offspring are “developing very well” and were born on June 25.

The cubs have also been microchipped and currently weigh 410 and 500 grams, the statement added. “The cubs will spend the next weeks in the den and will be cared for by their mother Akuti,” said the German zoo.

Double hope for the species: UK zoo

Earlier, , on Wednesday (August 2), the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) announced the birth of twin red panda cubs at Whipsnade Zoo in Bedfordshire, United Kingdom. The ZSL, which runs the British zoo said that the birth of the pair, whose sex is yet to be determined offers “double hope for the species”.

The twin red panda cubs, at Whipsnade Zoo were also born on June 25 and each weighed just 113 grams at birth and were yet to venture out of their nest. Grant Timberlake, a zookeeper said, “We were ecstatic when we spotted her curled up in one of the nesting boxes we had prepared, using her bushy red tail to keep the two cubs warm.”

He also said that the red panda cubs are being taken care of by their parents Ruby and Nilo and will be named after their first visit to the veterinarian. “Ruby has been doing an incredible job feeding and caring for the twins, so we’re leaving the family to bond together, only checking in on them when she pops outside to eat,” said Timberlake, as quoted by The Guardian.

Endangered red pandas

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), red pandas are among the world’s endangered species. Furthermore, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) estimates that there are less than 10,000 red pandas left on Earth.

“These twin cubs give us double hope for the species, as they were born as part of an important European breeding programme for endangered red pandas, designed to keep a backup population safe in conservation zoos – while we tackle the issues they’re facing in the wild,” said Timberlake.

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