Welcoming a new red panda cub

At just a week old, this tiny grey bundle of fur is an endangered Red Panda cub born at the Park in one of the hottest summers on record.

Weighing around 150g – the same as a medium sized smartphone or small paperback book – the arrival is a success for the newly partnered breeding pair, Emma and Koda.

Keeper Samantha Peeke said: “Every birth is a great boost for the breeding programme but this one is particularly exciting as although Emma has had cubs before, Koda is a first time dad!

“So far everyone is doing well, Emma is doing a great job of looking after little one, spending most of her time in the nest box, only briefly coming out to eat and drink. 

“In the wild red pandas are solitary so males have nothing to do with rearing of cubs, so Koda is doing a great job of staying out of the way and letting Emma look after the cub. 

“It will stay hidden with mum in the nest box for the first few months of life. However, mum will occasionally carry the cub from nest box to nest box, so visitors may catch a glimpse if they are very lucky.

“When they are born their fur is more of grey colour, it takes around three months for the red colour to develop.”

The cubs are born blind and helpless and are dependent on mum for all care. Keepers won’t know the sex of the cub until a health check in a few weeks’ time and with the hot weather are keeping them cool using ice packs and cooling bags for the nestboxes.

Female red pandas are only fertile for one day a year so to have a birth following Emma and Koda’s first breeding season is extra special.

Samantha said: “I've been lucky enough to see several red panda cubs born and raised at Longleat, and it is my favourite part of my job. That magic moment when you see a newborn cub for the first time never gets old. it's a privilege to help them grow up so they can join the European breeding programme and contribute to saving their species. 

“There is thought to be as few as 2,500 red pandas left in the wild. They are endangered due to habitat loss and poaching. Longleat supports a charity called the Red Panda Network which works to safeguard their natural habitat form poachers and restore habitats through the replanting of forests.”

Previous Red Panda litters from Longleat have gone to other zoos and Safari Parks as part of the breeding programme.