New Arrival: Qi, Red Panda

Just in time for Chinese New Year, a new red panda has taken up residence at Pepper Family Wildlife Center! Qi (pronounced “chee”) is a 7-year-old adult who arrived from New York’s Prospect Park Zoo recently as a result of an Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan® recommendation. He is being paired with 8-year-old Nisha.

Red pandas, native to high mountain forests in East Asia and the Himalayas, are bamboo-eaters. In fact, bamboo makes up more than 90% of their wild diet, although they are also adapted to eat meat. As animals used to cold temperatures, they can adjust their metabolic rate, curl up into a tight ball, and wrap their tail around their body to keep warm. They’re well suited to Chicago-style weather.

Behind-the-scenes images courtesy of Assistant Lead Keeper of Carnivores Allycia Darst (featured) and Advance Animal Care Specialist Chelsea Vann (above).

These shy, solitary animals spend much of their time in treetops and can climb down tree trunks headfirst, thanks to unique anatomical features such as a flexible ankle and a fibula (a bone between the knee and ankle) that rotates on its axis. Red pandas come to the ground to mate generally from January through March and have a gestation period that ranges from three months to more than five months, a variation that may depend on their metabolic rate. Litters, typically born in late spring or summer, often consist of two cubs.

These medium-sized mammals were actually the first animals to be called pandas; giant pandas were named because people thought they were related to the much-smaller red pandas. Both species share a pseudo-thumb, a bone in the wrist used for grasping bamboo. However, red pandas are in fact the only living member of the Ailuridae family and known to be distant relatives of raccoons.

Red pandas are endangered as a result of habitat loss and degradation driven by human development. According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, their populations have declined by 50% in the last three generations.

Qi and Nisha are now getting to know one another in the habitats on the south side of the lion house. Come say hello soon and wish them both good luck!