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Red Panda Cubs Named
September 2011
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| Red panda mother Shama with Damini (left) and Pili (right) |
Thunder, lightning, and strong winds greeted the National Zoo’s two female red panda cubs when they were born June 17, and that stormy night has now determined their names.
One cub, Pili (pictured at left), received her name on September 22, after voting closed on NBC Washington’s website. Pili, which means “clap of thunder” in Chinese, was the winner among four names—all storm-related—with 30 percent of the vote. A Zoo supporter named Pili’s twin sister Damini, which is Nepalese for “lightning.”
When the cubs were weighed on September 21, Damini weighed 3.2 pounds and Pili weighed 2.5 pounds. Animal care staff remarked that the cubs were feistier at this week's weighing than they were the previous week. Staff can distinguish between the cubs because Damini is larger, and the rings around Pili's eyes are complete—compare the red rings in the photo in the upper left corner with the first photo in the slideshow.
Pili and Damini spend most of their time in a den, but do occasionally venture out into the exhibit room with their mother, Shama.
Visitors to the giant panda house may be able to see the cubs, Shama, and the cubs' father, Tate in the exhibit room or on screen in the camera booth, Red panda enthusiasts around the world can watch both cubs and their parents on the Zoo’s 
red panda web cam. Celebrate the cubs! 
Adopt a red panda.
Red pandas are native to the cool, temperate bamboo forests of Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, and Nepal. They have long, sharp claws and a reddish coat with white markings, which helps them blend in with the red mosses and white lichens that grow on the trees in which they live. Red pandas are listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as the result of habitat loss and poaching. Only about 2,500 adult red pandas remain in the wild.
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