June 17, 2020
Our red panda Starlight turns 3 years old today – June 17th. She will be celebrating with all of her favorite treats, including bamboo sprouts, grapes, apple slices, and apple-based biscuits.This will be in addition to her regular base diet of leaf eater biscuits and, of course, bamboo. She likes banana, pear, and the occasional blueberry as well. If she gets her “birthday wish”, it will be semi-cool and cloudy outside that day. If you recall, red pandas are not real big fans of the summer weather, especially mid-day. Like most of our carnivores, to help her get ready for it though, she is currently shedding her thick furry coat.
Many people had been asking when Starlight is going to get a new “friend”. Like a lot of our carnivores, red pandas are more solitary in nature. They interact during the winter breeding season, but the rest of the year, they tend to just co-exist. However, she was all set to get a new mate in March, and then the pandemic hit, so it has not been able to happen yet.
Once it is safe to travel with a red panda, then we will go and get him by car. At this point, we have no idea of when that will be, but until then, we will enjoy our one-on-one time with Starlight.
– Zoo Keeper Heidi Beifus
*Banner photo by Heidi Beifus
