Endangered Red Panda Cub Born At Toronto Zoo

We are thrilled to announce the birth of an endangered red panda cub! 🐾 Born at 4:11pm on Wednesday, July 13, this is only the third red panda birth at your Zoo in over 25 years, and the first cub for four-year-old mom, Paprika. Mom is comfortable enough to leave the nest box for short periods of time, and this allowed our Wildlife Care staff to quickly assess the cub’s health and were also able to determine the cub is a male. After a quick vet visit on Tuesday, we learned he weighs a very healthy 221g. Paprika was very calm when she was momentarily separated from him, taking the chance to stretch out and groom herself before returning to the nest box to bathe and attend to her cub. Paprika arrived at the Zoo in November 2021 as a potential mate for our male red panda Suva on a breeding recommendation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Red Panda Species Survival Plan®. The mission of an AZA cooperatively managed SSP Program is to manage an ex situ species populat