Opened in 1999, this remains a spectacular exhibit; but will be divided in the near future to better accomodate multiple red pandas. Previously hotwire has been used to divide the exhibit.
A spectacular exhibit it looks like definitely, possibly the best have seen in photos of before, and considering it was completed in 1999 its really forward for its time and still looks fantastic.
@steveroberts It’s a brilliant exhibit. It initially housed three males, but they fought and had to be separated. The father from Auckland (Mario) remained; while his son from Auckland (Mungojerre) was transferred to Brooklands. The young male from Adelaide (Laotzy) also remained, but was separated from Mario via hotwire. That’s my only criticism of this exhibit that it’s poorly equipped to manage more than one grouping.
The next pandas were brothers from Auckland (grandsons of Mario). One escaped and was hit by a car the week he arrived; but the remaining brother (Chito) formed a pair with a female from Australia and they produced several litters.
Sorry to hear about the poor guy who was hit by a car like poor Kesari at Symbio. But a lot of positive for the Red Pandas at Hamilton besides the initial fighting. Yeah hotwire is not the best look but the exhibit has a lot of positives it seems, except of course as you mention its not setup for multi groupings. A bonded pair and their offspring before independence would have a great life in that exhibit though like Chito and the female from Australia.
@steveroberts Yeah it seems like red pandas, apes and otters are the most frequent escape artists within the region. A female red panda called Maya escaped her exhibit at Auckland Zoo at least twice. She had a fight with her adolescent daughter, which she resented sharing an exhibit with following the introduction of a male. They had two exhibits and with the male kept in a different exhibit, she happily cohabited with two daughters from her second and third litters. Maya’s third litter was triplets and I saw them as a kid. The males went to Hamilton as per above and the female remained at Auckland until her export to India in 2010. The plans was for her offspring to be released into the wild.
