Valentine's day date for endangered pandas in Sussex
Drusillas Zoo Park are celebrating the endangered animal
Drusillas Zoo have specially prepared a Valentine's date for two red pandas to encourage breeding.
The romantic set up including red roses, paper hearts, and pink bunting was arranged by zookeepers for their resident red pandas, Maja and Mulan.
It is in an effort to encourage the pandas to breed amid hopes of welcoming cubs in the near future.
Hidden treats of panda cake and sweet red grapes were also placed around the enclosure.
Drusillas have recently been awarded breeding approval for red pandas from the EEP Studbook keeper, meaning this pairing could finally result in the arrival of endangered panda cubs – something the zoo has not seen for almost a decade.
Five year old Maja, who came to Drusillas in 2019 from Sosto Zoo in Hungary, is quite the ‘toy boy’ for 11 year old Mulan who moved to the Sussex zoo from Paignton when she was just a year old.
Keepers are hoping that Maja’s youthful energy and Mulan’s calm wisdom will be the perfect combination for conception.
Although fitting with Valentine’s Day this week, the activity also formed an important part of the Drusillas’ daily enrichment programmes, where animals are offered new and varied stimulus each day to encourage natural behaviours.
Headkeeper, Gemma Romanis, commented:
“Obviously red pandas are adorable and the thought of cubs is unbearably cute, but excitement among the team at the prospect of babies is far deeper than just cuteness.
“Red pandas are endangered in the wild, so it’s a real privilege as a zoo to be part of the conservation breeding programmes that contribute to the future survival of threatened species like this.
"Understandably, I think a lot of people assume if an animal is endangered then we just breed as much as we can, but it’s actually a very controlled and carefully managed process to ensure genetic diversity in the population, so the future of the species can be as successful as possible".