Red Panda Explores New House at Adelaide Zoo

Posted By : The Animal Facts Editorial Team

Date: March 29, 2022 11:03 pm

Mishry the red panda explores her newly expanded habitat at the Adelaide Zoo

Photo Credit: Adrian Mann

Adelaide Zoo’s red pandas now have more room to roam with a large expansion to their enclosure opening this week. This new area connects to the original habitat using overhead tunnels similar to those already in use for tamarins and colobus monkeys at the zoo.

Mishry was first to explore the new space and enjoyed climbing through the tunnels, nestling herself in the bamboo and walking over the heads of delighted visitors.

Senior Keeper of Carnivores, Arliah Hayward, said Mishry is doing really well and is confident climbing and exploring the enormous tree.

“She’s getting up high but she’s very sure-footed and she’s testing out branches before fully committing,” she said.

“Mishry comes back to her exhibit on her own accord as that’s where she gets fed, although she is trying out the unripe figs from the tree.”

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“The addition of the tunnel and access to the tree offers great enrichment for Mishry.”

“She is getting great exercise, sunshine in the afternoons as well as a whole new vantage of the zoo where can see the Black-and-white Colobus and the Small Clawed Otters.”

“Visitors are loving watching her in the tree and are stopping for a long time to watch her explore. It is also a photographers dream! We’ve had lots of people taking fantastic shots of her exploring.”

Three year old Mishry has called the zoo home since May 2021 when she arrived from Taronga Zoo in Sydney,

The IUCN estimate that fewer than 10,000 red pandas remain in the wild. Habitat loss and fragmentation are the main factors in their decline.

Learn more about Red Pandas here – Red Panda Fact File | The Animal Facts

Learn more about Adelaide Zoo on their website – Adelaide Zoo