<em>The Cutest Animal You Will Ever See, a Red Panda of Course.
By
Nicki Boyd
Behavior Husbandry Manager
San Diego Zoo</em>

<em>If you have ever worked with red pandas then you are probably already agreeing with me, if not take five minutes right now to search a YouTube® video of red pandas and you will instantly fall in love.  That is what happened to me 20 years ago when I began working with them at the San Diego Zoo, and I haven’t stopped adoring them since.  There is a lot of information out there about taking care of red pandas and this article will teach you some of the basics as well as conservation efforts going on.  If you like this information then look for the dedicated AKF issue all about red pandas in 2013. We’ll be making a call out for papers too so if you would like to contribute we’d love to have your help.  Some of you reading this may have come to the workshop in San Diego at the last annual AAZK, Inc. conference in August of 2011.  I really enjoyed the workshop, not only did I get to teach about one of my favorite animals but I learned from all the other red panda keepers out there.  It was a great networking tool and I look forward to more of those in the future.

So, let’s talk about red pandas or the FIRST panda as I like to say.  They were discovered in 1825 about 50 years before the giant panda (<em>Ailuropoda melanoleuca</em>).  There are two sub-species (<em>Ailurus fulgens fulgens</em>) and (<em>Ailurus fulgens re-fulgens</em>) (formerly <em>styani</em>). Red pandas were once classified with Procyonidae and now most agree they should be in Ailuridae. There has been much debate over their family as well, even going as far as some scientist classifying them at one time with pinnipeds, really?? So over the years I have found it difficult to explain to zoo guests and panda enthusiasts what family they are really in.  Our graphics at the zoo still say raccoon relatives even though our general curator and I tried to get the graphics updated before they were finished.  Oh well, I’m sure that has never happened to any of you, right?  A great book that just came out last year is Angela Glatson’s “Red Panda: The Biology and Conservation of the First Panda”.  You can get it for around $70 at Amazon.com®.  This book has a chapter in it that will give you a great historical look at how many different scientists have classified them in so many families and the scientific ways they have determined the two sub-species and most objective classifications to date.

<strong>Diet and Medical Husbandry</strong>

The diet varies from zoo to zoo but I will give you diet recommendations from our nutritionists and research data from the field.  Our diet for a female weighing around 6 kilograms (13.2 pounds) is as follows.

1<span> </span>LEAFEATER (MarionvZoological®)<span> </span>50 whole<span> </span>300g<span> </span> SMTWRFS<span> </span>

2<span> </span>APPLE<span> </span>90g<span> </span> SMTWRFS<span> </span>

3<span> </span>GRAPE<span> </span>4 whole<span> </span> SMTWRFS<span> </span>

4    BROWSE, BAMBOO, ASST SPECIES  <span> </span>15-1 m branches<span> </span> SMTWRFS

We weigh them once a month and make sure they are staying within their target which can be adjusted by a body score that our nutritionist uses to maintain a healthy weight.  They will check for fat build up on abdomen and back.  If you can get your pandas trained for palpation this really helps.  The fruit is great for training and we free-feed the leafeater biscuits in bowls or enrichment devices. I will talk more about training further down in this article.  The bamboo is offered two to three times per day.   Our horticulture team cuts it fresh and delivers it to the area. On the weekends it is bagged on Friday and put into a cooler then delivered with our daily forage order.  It dries out quickly so you should put it in water right away.  We have created several water containers.  Four-inch PVC tubes with a cap on the end and a hole in the side can easily be hung on a lag bolt drilled into a tree and our newest exhibit  has it on display so we use large sections of bamboo culm that is dried out with a hole drilled in it and that is hung with the bolts drilled into the trees (for a more natural look).  There are many species of bamboo that can be grown in all climates and it grows fast so hopefully if you have red pandas your zoo will support growing fresh bamboo to feed out.  In the wild bamboo can be up to 98% of their diet (99% of the giant pandas’ diet).  Researchers have found they prefer species B. spanostachya. Unlike giant pandas they eat only the leaves.  They also eat berries, fruits, some meat such as birds, eggs and rodents.  They have a rapidly moving digestive tract.  Input versus output is about 4200 grams of food intake while they excrete 2750 grams, thus lots and lots of feces.  Most feces are found up in trees in field studies (57%), so having a high platform (or as I like to call it a poop platform) can help make a latrine for them that you can hopefully set up for easy cleaning and disinfecting.

Pandas can get overweight very easy and that can cause a dystocia for breeding females so our veterinarians and nutritionists keep a close eye on them, and we make sure they stay around their target weight.  We sometimes have had to separate the male and female during feeding if she starts eating his food too, which can be difficult if they don’t want to shift.  We have also had to separate for daily medications.  As they get older dental disease is quite common and a low dose of antibiotics with 3 months on, 3 months off has really kept the gingivitis under control.  Some of the other medical issues you need to stay on top of are skin issues.  Some zoos with a lot of humidity have had an issue with ringworm; another good reason to train them for tactile palpation, their fur is so thick it will hide sores and injury.  We had an issue with hot spots and were able to treat topically with Silvadene but if we didn’t have our hands on the panda we may have missed it until it was a severe sore.

For vaccination recommendations start at 8 weeks, then 3 weeks until 16 weeks, killed rabies vaccine every 3 years after the 1st year.  For animal ambassadors that have public contact we vaccinate against rabies every year and Distemper, Feline Herpes/Calici/Panleukopenia every three years.  They can be trained for hand injections or squeeze trained pretty easily.

<strong>Exhibit Design and Nest Box Recommendations</strong>

They are an arboreal animal that is built for a cold climate, they need shade, ideally a misting system and air conditioning unit for the warmer regions and hotter months.  High climbing spots with shade, ideally natural trees to climb up and sleep in make better displays.  They have an approximate Four-foot jump distance (not great jumpers but great climbers), so five to six foot walls with a turn back and smooth surface will work fine.  Ideally the exhibit would not be surrounded by visitors, giving them some escape from guests.  While they do warm up to familiar keepers and participate well with training (once comfortable) in many zoos they can still be shy and easily stressed.  If they pace a lot in a warm climate they can quickly overheat with that thick fur coat.  Having access in hot months to air conditioning is highly recommended.

Nest boxes (SSP recommends 3 options, and boxes should not get over 70 degrees Fahrenheit), should be L shaped for females to feel hidden. I have seen many different next boxes, in the wild they would prefer a large hollowed out log or small cave; these have been simulated in some captive exhibits and worked well.  In most zoos I see wooden next boxes, many on legs to get them up off the ground, again with options for the female.  Before giving birth you will find her dragging lots of nesting material in the box.  I have had hay get moldy from getting wet so we prefer pine wood shavings or excelsior (wood wool) and the female tends to drag in a bunch of dried bamboo to make her own. Plants in the exhibit will probably vary greatly so I imagine there are many keepers out there with suggestions (again another great time to share in the red panda issue in 2013).  Many facilities have air conditioning in the denning area; they usually give birth mid-summer so here in the United States most of us are pretty warm so to decrease mortality keeping them cool is highly recommended.

<strong>Breeding</strong>

Red pandas reach sexual maturity at around 18 to 22 months, the earliest red panda to give birth was about 25 months-old.  They breed in late winter and their parturition is usually in early to mid-summer.  Studies show they are induced ovulators and can delay implantation, so knowing exact birth dates can be tricky.  Gestation is typically 114 days (can be shorter due to time of implantation) and can be anywhere from 98 to 158 days.  The SSP recommends cameras for the den box.  There are many different strategies for successful breeding and they vary so you have to find out what works for your facility.  Some separate the female from the male, others leave them together.  Some fathers have been seen playing with them once they are out of the next box, but normally would have nothing to do with raising offspring.  Experts say that if the pair is very compatible you have a better chance of her tolerating him during birth.  If she is easily stressed it may be best to move him out or at least separate them.  Some facilities lock the female in the back with her cubs for the first month.  We have had to hand-raise youngsters at the San Diego Zoo.  There is a high mortality so a trained female is much more likely to let you get your hands on the cubs, weigh them and check vitality.  If they are not gaining you can supplement feed or pull for hand-rearing.  Aspiration is very common with bottle-fed neonates so a well-developed hand-rearing protocol should be in place in case you need to pull cubs.

Anyone can contact me at the zoo at <a href="mailto:nboyd@sandiegozoo.org">nboyd@sandiegozoo.org</a> and I will get you in touch with the appropriate nursery staff to get you set up with our best practices and formulas.

Training and Enrichment

Goals for training at our facility were prioritized by our veterinary department.  In a perfect world these are the priority behaviors to train in order of importance:

Shift/station

Scale

Crate

Body exam: tactile (topical treatment), mouth open, ears, eyes, genitalia, measurements, ultrasound.

Injection training

Optional leash training as ambassador (male best candidate if in breeding program during non-breeding season).

There are many successful training programs all over the country, with patience and trust these animals are extremely intelligent and will to learn.  Of course, each individual is different and time and energy allotted toward training may affect the success.  But at minimum you should be able to crate train and/or scale train them.  With such a large tail, use a tub, half crate or platform to make sure all of their tail is being weighed too.  While being overweight is a medical concern they can easily get underweight too and with all that fur it’s difficult to tell, which is another great reason to train palpation.  The SSP would like to collect measurements again from captive pandas and have it sent to the AZA SSP coordinator.  If you have them in your institution your Institutional Representative (IR) should have the 2011 recommendations which have a chart on what measurements they would like such as girth, nose to tail and more.  I can also send you the diagrams and contact information if you’re interested.  Red pandas can be difficult to enrich, but training is enrichment too.  They should be provided fresh bamboo daily (live plants get eaten too quickly).  Also know your bamboo before planting any in…
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