Seneca Park Zoo welcomes red panda cub

Visitors to Seneca Park Zoo are getting their first glimpse of a two-week-old red panda today.

The cub, whose sex has not been determined yet, was born at the zoo on June 27. Zoo staff members are bottle-feeding the newborn, who was abandoned by its mother, Raji, who is only a little over a year old herself.

According to zoo veterinarian Chris McKinney, this is not unusual for first-time red panda mothers.

“The good news," he said, "is that the cub nursed initially and received colostrum from mom, which is incredibly important to survival.”

Zoo director Steve Lacy said while it is still quite young, the cub is eating well and continuing to grow, and it appears to be strong and healthy.

Starting today, the public will be able to see the cub through the viewing glass at the zoo's Animal Hospital during regular zoo hours, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The as-yet-unnamed cub, who is still small enough to fit in the palm of caretakers' hands, will be housed there for the short term.

McKinney says it will be a month before zoo staff will be able to confirm the cub’s gender, and another few days before the cub’s eyes fully open.

The cub is the third red panda to be born at Rochester's zoo under a national breeding program.

The cub's mother, Raji, came to Seneca Park Zoo late last year from Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse. The cub's father, Willie, previously fathered two cubs born to another female red panda, Starlight. She and her two cubs were transferred to other zoos as part of a species survival plan.

Red pandas, who are native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China, are classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Their primary threats are deforestation, loss of habitat, and climate change.