The newest resident of the Lincoln Children’s Zoo is “Betty”, a red panda cub that was born at the Zoo on June 4. Zoo officials say mom and cub are both healthy and thriving.
After giving birth in the wild, female red pandas will use tree hollows or rock crevices lined with plant material for nests. To replicate this, zookeepers created six nest boxes behind the scenes with bamboo and wood wool inside as nesting material.
Mothers will spend almost all their time in the nest box with the cub for the first few weeks after giving birth and longer periods of time away in close proximity as the cub gets older.
Betty’s birth is important for animal conservation efforts. Red pandas are an endangered species, meaning they face a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
Mom and cub have access to their exhibit space, however guests will likely not see Betty on exhibit until sometime this fall as she will spend almost all her time in her nest boxes.