This is the very first time that we have participated in a transcontinental international conservation breeding program with the direct prospect of being able to reintroduce individuals to the wild.
Under the Global Species Management Plan (GSMP) for endangered red pandas, we are one of two European zoos (the other being Copenhagen Zoo, Denmark) recently selected to transfer one individual each to Darjeeling Zoo, India – an institution situated in the Southern Himalayas, where red pandas occur naturally, and specialized in the conservation and breeding of threatened native wildlife. Therefore, one of the female twins we acquired in 2014 is currently on her way to Diergaarde Blijdorp / Rotterdam Zoo, the institution coordinating the European breeding program for red pandas, whence she will soon fly to India.
The other twin will not be lonely, either, as she is already being courted by Pandita, the young male we welcomed last summer under a European Ex Situ Program (EAZA EEP). Their budding love will surely be a sight to see once we reopen and is hoped to be the source of further great news in the near future.
Debrecen Zoo and Amusement Park
