Video: Darjeeling Zoo Welcomes Four Red Panda Cubs And A Snow Leopard Cub

There is good news for animal lovers from the Darjeeling Zoo. Two red pandas there - Teesta and Nira - have given birth to two cubs each. The zoo has also welcomed a baby snow leopard.

Informing about the births, the Zoo director this morning said the pandas gave birth to the cubs on April 15.

Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park, popularly known as Darjeeling Zoo, also informed that a snow leopard, Zima, gave birth to a cub on July 28. The director added that at the age of 13 years and three months, Zima is the oldest snow leopard to give birth in the last three decades of snow leopard conservation breeding programme at Darjeeling Zoo.

Calling it a great success for Red Panda augmentation programme, the Director of Darjeeling Zoo also said that the mothers and cubs are being carefully monitored from a distance without causing any disturbance to them.

A video shared by the Darjeeling zoo authorities on X, formerly Twitter, showed the red pandas cuddling each other inside the bark of a tree.

The red panda, an endangered species, primarily a herbivore, predominantly likes cold climatic regions and almost 50 per cent of them are found in Eastern Himalayas.

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a red panda has a bear-like body. Its belly and limbs are black. On the side of the head and above its small eyes, there are white markings. These animals are skillful and acrobatic and they mostly stay on trees using their long, bushy tails for balance. They also use the tail to cover themselves in winters.

Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park is the only specialized Zoo in India and is internationally recognized for its conservation breeding programmes of Red Panda, Snow Leopards, Tibetan Wolf and other highly endangered animal species of Eastern Himalaya.

It was established in 1958 with an aim to maintain the ecological balance in the sensitive region.