Red Panda Cub Born At Milwaukee County Zoo: Photos

MILWAUKEE, WI — The Milwaukee County Zoo announced on Thursday a red panda couple gave birth to a new cub in an off-exhibit location on June 12. This is the third cub for the mother, Dr. Erin, and father, Dash.

The unnamed cub weighed 144 grams 24 hours after birth and 196 grams the next day, the zoo said in a statement. Zookeepers will weigh the cub again when mother and cub are comfortable being separated long enough to take the cub from her secluded nest box and placed on a scale.

Dr. Erin is attentive and nurturing to the cub, zookeepers said. The mother and cub spend almost the entire time together in their nest box, which is common as wild red pandas keep their cubs hidden for the first two to three months of life.

The cub relies on mother for milk and will nurse for the first 13 to 22 weeks of life, the zoo said. After four to six months, she'll wean from the mother, and keepers will introduce solid food softened in water to her.

Cubs don't have red fur when they're born but instead have gray hair, the zoo said. The cub's fur will turn red over the next couple of months and will be visible in the outdoor habitat in a few months.

Red pandas live in the mountains of Nepal, northern Myanmar and central China, the zoo said. They're considered endangered because of deforestation, poaching and trapping, and only about 2,500 of the animals are estimated to exist in the wild.

Because of the low number of red pandas in the wild, the cub born in the Milwaukee County Zoo was significant, the zoo said. The cub is part of a survival plan to maintain genetic diversity within red panda populations in zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Here are photos of the red panda cub in its first few hours of life.