Two un-bear-ably cute red pandas are introduced to Edmonton Valley Zoo

An extra dose of cute-ness arrived at the Edmonton Valley Zoo, two new red panda cubs made their debut Friday afternoon.

Kiki is the name of the proud mother of the two new red panda cubs Fred and George, named after the Weasley twins in Harry Potter.

The cute and cuddly red pandas are the new stars in the zoo, both born in July and now getting familiar with their environment.

“Today they will be on public display for the very first time and what we saw was them being introduced to their indoor display room and getting a chance to explore it,” said Laura Castor, Animal Care Supervisor at Edmonton Valley Zoo.

Just like the giant black and white pandas, these un-bear-ably cute creatures can withstand cold weather up to minus 20 with their thick coats and fluffy tails.

“They are also found in the Himalayan Foothills, so those are cold climate cloud forests. So, weather we’re experiencing today would be very similar to what they would see in their native range,” said Castor.

Taking care of and introducing the newly-born cubs to some staff may not be challenging but it is definitely a long process.

“New things can be scary, so we’re making sure that they knew our voices and became used to our presence. They’re still young, they’re only four months old so they reached maturity around a year,” said Darby Gynane, Zookeeper at Edmonton Valley Zoo.

According to Laura, red pandas are endangered and only 2500 red pandas are currently recorded in the wild, adding that the zoo has a role in conserving endangered animals like these pandas.

“When visitors come to the zoo, they help support the endangered species by coming down to the zoo and also getting a chance to experience and learn a little bit more about this unique species and some of the challenges that they face in the wild,” said Castor.