In June we welcomed a female red panda cub! Mum Liwei has been very attentive over the last few months and dad An An had been checking on mum and baby regularly. Since then our keepers have chosen a name for our little cub – Iniya which means ‘sweet’ in Nepalese.

Iniya had been spending a lot of time in her nest box as red panda cubs' development is quite slow; they open their eyes after 18 days and tend not to emerge from their nest until they are about 10-12 weeks old, but these past few weeks our new arrival has been venturing out and exploring her home.

Although the Red pandas’ scientific name means ‘fire-coloured cat’, the red panda actually shares more similarities with bears and racoons!

The red panda is classified as Endangered on the IUCN Red List so our new arrival is very important to the species and to Colchester Zoo.

Keep an eye out for our young cub as she continues to grow healthy and strong!

*Our red panda cub may not be visible at all times.