By taking its first steps, closely followed by its mother, the young animal with the long tail amazes visitors to the Lisbon zoo, who will be asked to participate in the choice of its first name. After the first months during which she developed very slowly, this baby red panda has now reached “a phase where she becomes very playful, a little clumsy sometimes… but she learns very quickly”, as Rafaela Fiuza, veterinarian, explains. from the Lisbon zoo.
This carnivorous mammal, which feeds mainly on bamboo leaves, likes to live in trees. “If you can’t find him feeding among the bamboo, you need to look at the treetops,” the zoo warned in a statement announcing his birth. This birth is exceptional because the animal belongs to “one of the endangered species”, observed the veterinarian.
Endangered due to poaching
The red panda, sometimes nicknamed “fire fox”, is native to the Himalayan peaks. It is generally found in the forests of Asia, particularly in Nepal or China. Sought after for its fur, this solitary animal is threatened not only by poaching, but also by deforestation and the destruction of its natural environment.
These threats have led to it being classified as an “endangered” species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The population of red pandas is now estimated at less than 10,000 individuals in the wild.