Red panda Kush becomes a father

Mon, 17 Aug 2020

Two endangered red pandas have been born at the Curraghs Wildlife Park.

The cubs are the first to be born in the Isle of Man and are being looked after by mum Sara and dad Kush.

The six-week-old cubs are covered in thick grey fur, which is starting to change to the recognisable red shade, and will stay with their mum for three months before emerging from their nesting box in the coming weeks.

Their keeper, Emma Dudgeon, said: 'We have one boy and one girl and we are now thinking about names. It is very exciting.'

In the wild red pandas are found in mountain forests of Asia and are classed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Kathleen Graham, General Manager, said: 'During their first days they have received their mother's undivided attention. We all know Kush has an adventurous spirit but we are all thrilled that he is now a father.

'In the wild the red panda population has seen a decline of around 40% in the last 50 years - so breeding programmes in zoos are more important than ever.'

Recent estimates suggest there are only 10,000 left in the wild, but that figure could be as low as 2,500 some experts believe.

Around 50 red pandas are born each year in European zoos where they can live up to 14 years.

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