“Introducing Sam and Frodo, Mogo Zoo’s baby red pandas.”

On 9 December 2004, one of our resident red pandas gave birth to two bundles of joy named Sam and Frodo.  Unfortunately, due to a problem with the mother, and in the best interests of the cubs, a decision was made to hand raise the cubs at the tender age of just 6 days old when the cubs weighed approximately 182 grams and 282 grams, respectively.  This decision was not made lightly, however, in hindsight, it was effectively the right decision.  This is the first occasion that baby red pandas have been hand-reared from such a young age in Australia .

The cubs viewed the world for the first time at 18 days of age when their eyes opened to witness their new and seemingly peculiar surroundings.  When the cubs were 1 ½ months old they took their first steps, which marked the commencement of the cub’s physical journey of exploring this new world.

When born, Sam and Frodo’s coat was cream in colour.  The cub’s adult coat will not completely develop until they are approximately three months of age.

Sam and Frodo are now 5 months old and weigh a healthy 2.5 kilograms.  They have adapted extremely well to their life at the Zoo and continue to delight crowds with their unique personalities.  Sam’s mischievous nature continues to enthral onlookers, whilst Frodo’s affection for his surrogate mother captures their hearts.

The cubs continue to be bottle fed three times a day.  In addition, the cubs were recently introduced to bamboo, which will ultimately consist of approximately half of their diet.

The red panda is found in the mountains of Laos , Bhutan , Nepal and Myanmar and in the Indian States of Assam and Sikkim .   It also lives in Yunnan and Sichuan provinces in South-Central China .

The red panda was proclaimed endangered in March, 1988 with only 500 possibly remaining in the wild.

The cubs are on display daily between the hours of 11.30am and 12.30pm, weather permitting.

NEWS FLASH!

The television program ‘Totally Wild’ filmed a series of stories in respect to the various animals at the Zoo over a period of three days in April, 2005.  The first story “Meerkat Micro-chipping” will be aired on Monday, 30 May 2005, at 4.00pm and Tuesday, 31 May 2005, at 6.00am.
Don’t miss this opportunity of observing the zoo and its keepers in the spotlight!
 

Education Officer

Eloise Whiffen has joined Mogo Zoo in the capacity of Education Officer.  She has watched the Zoo grow over many years and has always shown an interest in its development.

Eloise has taught in local schools for almost 30 years and presently works part-time at Sunshine Bay Primary School .

Offering Kindergarten to Year 12 cross-curriculum, the education programs are specific and developed in consultation with class teachers.