Rare Red Panda Triplets Born at Kansas City Zoo
What’s better than one red panda cub? Three red panda cubs! And Missouri’s Kansas City Zoo is lucky enough to be home to one of these special trios.
The zoo announced on Tuesday that their first-time red panda parents, Kate and Randy, welcomed triplets on July 11.
According to the zoo, “although red pandas typically have high mortality rates” and it “rare to have three cubs born at once,” the triplets are doing well thanks to Kate, who is doing a “great job” as a mom of three, and the cubs’ human caretakers at the zoo.
“The smallest of the cubs has been receiving supplemental feedings from zookeepers to ensure that it gains weight at a healthy rate,” the zoo shared in a release about the three babies.
Currently, the cubs are small enough to fit into the palm of a human hand, however they will grow to be about the size of a house cat and their white fur will turn reddish-brown at around 50 days old.
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For those eagerly awaiting a chance to see these little red pandas in person, don’t worry! Zoo visitors can try to sneak a peak of the cubs at the zoo when mom Kate moves her brood between nesting boxes.
Outside of these mini moves, the zoo plans to keep the cubs mostly behind the scenes for the next three months.
The zoo does not know the sex of each red panda cub yet, and has yet to name the trio. The zoo shared that they think the cubs will be ready to make their public debut sometime in October.
