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Red Panda Born at the Zoo
June 2010
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The cub died when it was 21 days old. 
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It was love at first sight for Shama and Tate, the Zoo's red pandas, and now, nearly a year and a half after they were introduced, the pair has a cub as evidence of their strong bond. On June 16, Shama gave birth to a single cub—the first for both of the Zoo’s red pandas and the first red panda cub born at the Zoo's D.C. campus in 15 years.
Three-year-old Tate came to the Zoo from the Nashville Zoo in February 2009 to breed with
two-year-old Shama as recommended by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ red panda Species Survival Plan, which manages breeding in order to maintain a genetically diverse zoo population. And the red pandas did not waste any time on this directive—within seconds of their first introduction, Shama and Tate displayed breeding behavior. But because the two were inexperienced and red pandas, like giant pandas, only have a short window once a year to get pregnant, it took a few tries before Shama and Tate were successful.
According to the curator of Asia Trail, the cub, which weighed 6.5 ounces on June 24, appears healthy and Shama is proving to be an attentive first-time mother. To ensure that Shama and the cub have the peace and quiet they need to bond, the Zoo has closed off the red panda section of Asia Trail to the public. Visitors may be able to catch a glimpse of the mother and her cub from the upper viewing area (near the Asian small-clawed otters). Once keepers determine it is safe, visitors will have a chance to welcome the newest furry member of the Zoo.
The cub represents a victory not only for the Zoo, but for the conservation community as a whole. With fewer than 2,500 red pandas left in the wild, they are an endangered species as the result of habitat loss. Red pandas live in the cool temperate bamboo forests in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in China, in the Himalayas and in Burma (Myanmar).
National Zoo scientists and biologists have a history of studying red pandas to learn about their reproduction. The new cub is an important part of that work. Current research focuses on increasing knowledge of basic reproductive traits by correlating behavior and hormones.
Shama was born at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, which has also had recent success with a red panda birth. Three-year-old Low May gave birth June 14 to a litter of two and one cub survived. The birth may have been complicated by the fact that Low May is a first-time mother and was hand-reared after her mother failed to properly care for her. A pathology report will reveal the cause of the cub’s death. Red pandas are born annually at SCBI and more than 100 surviving cubs have been born at both the Front Royal research facility and Washington, D.C., campuses since 1962.
Photos of Shama and Her Cub
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