Red Pandas in Oz.

After a quick search, most zoological references seem to state the red panda as being crepuscular. So i suppose there must be some truth to it.

A few years back, there was a proposal to build a new 'boutique' zoo (like SWW) in Singapore which would be open from morning till night, and they had an interesting idea about "time-sharing" of exhibits. For example, an exhibit island would be home to gibbons in the day and when they move to their dens at night, other nocturnal species like civets or binturongs would occupy that space.
It was a space-saving idea, but it could have great educational potential - letting visitors see how the same habitats/ecological niches are shared by different animals at different parts of the day. For South America, perhaps a tamarin/squirrel monkey exhibit in the day could become an owl monkey exhibit at night.

Anyway, that new zoo never materialized.
 
Never had dourocoulis at night safari before. Galago moholi used to be on exhibit up until 2 months ago when the group of 3 were plagued by some virus and 2 died. The lone male survivor has been taken off exhibit for vet care. Sugar gliders now occupy their exhibit space.
 
red pandas by day

its commonly recognised that red pandas are crepuscular, and in most zoos around europe that i visited these animals were almost always asleep or hidden.
i find here in Australia that despite ou warmer climate these animals tend to be active trhoughout the day, year round. at taronga, alot of enrichment effort goes into them as they are such a popular animal, and the zoo doesnt want people to be disappointed not seeing them.
i think enclosure design plays an important role here. even though these animals are arboreal, their new enclosure at taronga strikes a better compromise then the old exhibit on the Wild Asia site, where they had a tendency to climb the trees in the exhibit centre and remain out of view.
the glass viewing panels at the front of the taronga exhibit are great for close-ups. in fact these animals seem to spend alot of time on the ground and in the lower branches. alot of docos also show the wild red pandas feeding on the ground.
 
night monkeys are fascinating too. london had a few, and i thought they were great. so are Prevosts Squirrels, and Golden headed Lion Tamarins
 
I'm re-opening an old thread, I know, but i was surprised to learn (if ISIS can be believed) that good ol' Mogo Zoo has the second-largest (zoo) population of Red Pandas in the world, 9 animals, and exceeded only by Johannesburg, which has 11.

There are a lot of Red Pandas throughout the world's zoos, but they are mainly kept only in twos and threes.
 
Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee has bred exactly 93 red pandas in the past 31 years, and is widely known as specializing in that species. They have a mascot named Bamboo who is a character that actually walks around parts of the zoos so that people can get their photo taken with him, and there are red panda flags and stickers on many signs around the entrance. There are probably a dozen red pandas at the zoo as I type this, but who knows as they fire them out so often that it is difficult to keep track! When I was at the zoo last August I was told that there were 11 currently in the brand new Red Panda Village exhibit and the behind the scenes area, but perhaps some were shipped to other zoos. ISIS is a valuable website for zoo fans, but it is always a little off on the numbers...
 
It is correct, although two are moving to Australia Zoo in the coming months.

There are currently 43 red pandas in Australia and New Zealand - my trivial fact for the day!
 
snowleopard said:
ISIS is a valuable website for zoo fans, but it is always a little off on the numbers...
Click to expand...

That's generally because some ISIS members are a bit slow at sending their data into ISIS. The ISIS web site can only report what the institutions send them.
 
Getting back to the original post (seems you all got side tracked for about two years....lol) . I vaugley remember red panda cubs in the animal nursery. Its gone now, was a small building which housed animals behind glass at waist level....was located behind little (fairy) penguins and across from red panda exhibit....

jog any ones memory ?
 
I was just browsing on ISIS (for another thread) and it mentions Taronga now having 1.1.1 red panda. Is this just another ISIS error?
 
Animals such as red pandas can be moved on quite quickly after birth, so it may not be an isis error, as with most Australian zoos, isis is pretty reliable with them.
 
UrMumzAGoat said:
I was just browsing on ISIS (for another thread) and it mentions Taronga now having 1.1.1 red panda. Is this just another ISIS error?
Click to expand...

Sorry, just found out Pemba born 2008 has moved to Halls Gap Zoo so this may be possible. Pemba moved in December and is sharing an enclosure with another male.
 
Pemba is indeed at Halls Gap Zoo now, he has fit in beautifully :) He is not sharing with another panda, but living next door to a second male named Mani. - the enclosures are really gorgeous with Pemba's area including a very large gum tree. He prefers to spend most of his day right up the very very top!
 
although I should know the answer to this question - I don't - but I'll have an answer for you tonight as soon as I find out!
 
Yes he was born at Perth zoo! And while I'm here - can I please announce the proud arrival of twin Cotton-Top Tamarin babies, born this morning!!
 
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