Pittsburgh Zoo welcomes new red panda
The Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium announced the addition of a brand new red panda on Thursday, Nov. 16.
Marcy, a two-year-old female, arrived on October 24 from the Red River Zoo in Fargo, North Dakota. Xia, one of the other female red pandas in the habitat, also was born at the Red River Zoo back in 2011.
“The initial goal when receiving a new red panda is to acclimate the animal to the many new experiences her new home provides, from meeting and understanding her new keepers and the daily activity of the space to learning every square inch of her home; location of food, water and bathrooms; the movement of our guests; and the new sights, sounds, smells,” says Ray Bamrick, lead keeper. “It is a great change to her life, and we work very hard at making these changes gradual and comforting.”
As the number of red pandas in the wild continues to decline, zoos are very focused on conservation to learn more about their biology and potentially guard them from extinction.
Marcy has already been added to the red panda habitat and can be seen by visitors of the zoo.
