Altina celebrates birth of adorable baby red panda

The park welcomed a tiny red panda cub on December 17, to 9-year-old mother Rani who has taken to motherhood spectacularly well.

Animal Operations Manager Rebecca Surian said that they were especially proud of Rani and her motherhood skills, describing her as an 'amazing and loving mother.'

"It's unusual for an older, inexperienced red panda to naturally be a good mother. The excitement of this achievement is an understatement."

It will still be a while before visitors can say hello to Altina's newest resident, with another few months hiding away in a nest made of twigs and grass. The pandas gestate for three months, and spend another three months after birth nesting before emerging out into the world.

From then, they'll stay with their mother until the next breeding season and enter adulthood between 18 and 24 months old.

Luckily for both Rani and her newborn, there's plenty of golden bamboo grown on-site at Altina to keep them both fed and healthy.

"Rani's appetite has changed to include more protein like insects and eggs, and twice the amount of golden bamboo is being consumed to keep up with her milk production for her little man," said Ms Surian.

Red pandas are native to the Eastern Himalayas and South-West China, and the species has been listed as endangered since 2008 - with researchers believing that the total population of red pandas has dropped by 40 per cent over the last 20 years.

The birth of a new baby red panda at Altina is a victory for conservation efforts for the endangered species, and a very cute way for the wildlife park to celebrate entering 2024.