The Great Plains Zoo is announcing the pitter-patter of two Red Pandas.
The Zoo's 8-year-old Red Panda "Ruth" gave birth to a litter of cubs earlier this summer. According to a news release from the Great Plains Zoo, Red Panda cubs have trouble thriving during their first year of life whether in captivity or in the wild. Zookeepers recognized the cubs needed additional care and began hand feeding them in the Zoo's Veterinary hospital.
The Zoo's animal care staff is still monitoring the cubs and bottle feeds them three times a day. Until last week, one cub was separated in an oxygen chamber. She continues to do well and now receives oxygen treatments twice a day.
Red Pandas are part of the Zoo's endangered species program. Fewer than 10,000 Red Pandas survive in the wild because the forests they inhabit are lost to logging and the spread of agriculture.
The Great Plains Zoo participates in 17 endangered species breeding programs including Black Rhinos, Siamang Gibbons and Amur Tigers.
