Where there are pandas. Giant panda. Attack on a person

The Moscow Zoo is waiting for a couple of giant pandas from chinese zoo Chengdu. According to the press service of the capital's zoo, the animals will be accommodated in the China pavilion, the construction of which will begin in 2017.

“The exact date for the start of construction of the pavilion will be determined after negotiations general director Moscow Zoo with the Chengdu Panda Park, they will take place in April. We would like to receive a couple of pandas, but it is not yet known whether they will be given to us on a paid or free basis, ”the press service explained.

The China pavilion will appear next to the greenhouse at the Moscow Zoo. It is assumed that it will consist of three bulk levels. The first level will house a bird park, where you can look at the blue magpie, white eared pheasant and other birds.

On the second level there will be an open-air cage for a giant salamander, similar to the one in the Prague Zoo.

On the third level of the pavilion, there will be two species of pandas: red pandas, already living in the Moscow Zoo, and large black-and-white ones, which are to be brought from Chengdu.

Negotiations are also underway with the Prague Zoo on the transfer of golden monkeys for the pavilion. Since golden monkeys are included in the conservation program of the European Association of Zoos, they can be given away only when it is clear in what conditions they are going to be settled, the press service of the Moscow Zoo said.

The zoo noted that depending on the basis on which the animals will be received, as well as taking into account the amount of funding for the project by sponsors, the entrance to the pavilion can be free or for a small additional fee.

For the first time, the giant panda appeared on the territory of Russia already in 1957. Then a panda named Pin-pin was lodged in a separate suite at the Moscow Zoo. The panda came to visit Moscow. Then I managed to get another An-An panda, which was supposed to be paired with the male Pin-Pin. However, later it turned out that An-An is also a male and it was not possible to cross the pandas.

Four years later, the zoo leaders decided to try again. In 1961, the London Zoo proposed to reunite one boar with their female, the leaders of the Moscow Zoo happily agreed. The groom An-Anh and the bride Chi-Chi were placed in a separate highly comfortable enclosure. But the animals did not make friends and they could not get offspring.

Last on this moment the visit of giant pandas to the Moscow Zoo took place in 2001. For just a few weeks, two giant pandas, a male and a female (Ven-Ven and Ben-Ben), were brought to the Moscow Zoo as part of the Days of Beijing in Moscow.

Who among the people who are not idly interested in the animal world in all its diversity has not dreamed of seeing the pearl of the South Chinese fauna, the rarest giant panda, the black and white bamboo bear, about which there have been long and fierce debates - is he a bear or is it a raccoon? I dreamed too. How many have been read have been re-read, and I have memorized the history of the discovery of the beast by the naturalist missionary father Armand David. However, the first big panda in his life alive (a stuffed animal in the St. Petersburg Zoological Museum of the Academy of Sciences does not count) was lucky to see only at the age of 36.

Bao-Bao at the Berlin Zoo

It happened in the Berlin Zoo, 34 years old called the West Berlin Zoo. Moreover, there were not one pandas, but two at once: a male Bao Bao and a female Yan Yan.

Bao-Bao at the Berlin Zoo

The first was donated by the Chinese government to Chancellor Helmut Schmidt in 1980, and the second arrived in Berlin 15 years later as part of a captive breeding program.

Yan-Yan in the aviary of the Berlin Zoo

Naturally, this meeting with the living symbol of WWF became one of my greatest impressions in the memorable summer of 1996, when fate gave me the opportunity to visit 38 zoos in Europe in 3.5 months.

But theoretically, such a meeting could have happened much earlier, when the place of residence big panda there was the Moscow Zoo. A night on the train is the distance from Novgorod to Moscow. However, this is if you decide for yourself. And when the parents decide for you, distributing the household budget for much more prosaic articles than a trip to the capital's zoo, everything is not so simple. For the first time, my dream to see a zoo in Moscow came true only at the age of 18, 6 years after being there last time saw a bamboo bear. Alas…

Information about the content of giant pandas in the Moscow Zoo can be found in various publications, including the books of Igor Petrovich Sosnovsky, the former director of the zoo, tireless popularizer of his institution. Below I took the liberty of bringing together fragments from his books and articles, as well as from a review on the history of the mammalian department (authors - E. Davydov, I. Alekseicheva, E. Lysogorskaya), published in the report on the work of the Moscow Zoo for 2005. According to these data, during its entire history, 5 (five) bamboo bears have visited the zoo of the Russian capital.

The first of them - a male named Pin-Pin - was brought here in May 1957.

“According to Chinese zoologists,- wrote I.P. Sosnovsky, - in 1936-1956, only 14 bamboo bears were caught, most of which died during transportation. It is also known that several bamboo bears were removed from China in 1938 by the British and kept in the London Zoological Park. In the spring of 1955, Chinese specialists, members of a complex expedition to western part Sichuan Province, captured three young bamboo bears in Bao Xin County, which were brought to Beijing Zoo... One of them was donated by Chinese comrades to the working people of Moscow in May 1957 and entered the Moscow Zoo for maintenance. ".

Pin-Pin on the Island of Beasts

On my own I note that this was an event of not only, let's say, zoological, but also political importance: in the summer of the same year, the 6th World Festival of Youth and Students was loudly held in Moscow, and the panda, among other symbols, should have symbolized the friendship of a Russian with a Chinese , "Brothers forever". Settled Pin-Pin on the Island of Animals. But the first Soviet panda did not live here for long - “only two years” (Davydov et al.). The most probable cause- lack of knowledge of caring for such a specialized animal. And perhaps the age of the beast.

Why is it possible? At this point, almost barely starting the story, I have to insert the first comment. Sosnovsky in the III edition of the collection of articles "Moscow Zoo" (1961) and the team of authors more than 40 years later disagree in assessing the age of Pin-Pin. Sosnovsky, as you could read above, claims that one of three young bears was brought to Moscow, and Davydov, Alekseicheva and Lysogorskaya write something else: "In May 1957, an elderly bamboo bear named Pin-Pin was brought in.".

Understand as you wish, I still have no other sources of information. On the one hand, none of the later authors worked in the zoo at Pin-Ping, and Igor Petrovich nevertheless, in hot pursuit, described what he himself was a living witness to.

Here is another very important quote from his article “ Giant panda»:

“In 1956-1958, the leadership of the Beijing Zoo carried out several expeditions for bamboo bears, as a result of which 5 more specimens were caught. One of them in 1958 was acquired by the Austrian businessman Demmer. At his request, the animal was kept for 10 days in the Moscow Zoo, from where it was sent to the Frankfurt Zoo (on the Main). In September 1958, this specimen entered the London Zoological Park ".

I personally have never seen a mention of this “copy” anywhere else, including from Sosnovsky himself (although I can’t claim to be complete, it’s clear that I have not read everything written on this issue). Nevertheless, the moment is important and bright: even for 10 days, but in 1958, two giant pandas lived at the same time in the Moscow Zoo. And only then, after the death of Pin-Pin, a third beast appeared, which I.P. Sosnovsky and everyone after him is called the second:

“By the beginning of 1959, there were 7 bamboo bears in the zoological parks of the world, 5 of them in Beijing and one each in Moscow and London. In August 1959, the second bamboo bear arrived at the Moscow Zoo ".

Note that the director of the zoo does not indicate in his article that Pin-Pin was not there by that time. And the reader has the right to think that there are two black and white bears at once. By the way, maybe that was the case, because, firstly, the trio of late authors does not write exactly how long Pin-Pin, who lived “only two years”, held out. Until May - a month a month? Or until March? Or until October? Very vague. Moreover (and this is secondly), this is what Sosnovsky writes further:

“The Pin-Pin bamboo bear kept in the Moscow Zoo weighed 20 kilograms in 1955 (that is, when he was caught. - A.K.), in the spring of 1960 his weight reached 185 kilograms ".

It turns out that Pin-Pin lived at least until the spring of 1960, and was here at the same time as An-An. That is, he lived at least three years. It is unlikely that Igor Petrovich confused, who at the time of publication of the article was 45 years old, too early for sclerosis. Nevertheless, this point - at least for myself - remains to be clarified. In the zoo and in the Zoological Museum of Moscow State University, which exhibits stuffed animals of two giant pandas (and how could they get here, except from the zoo?).

Okay, let's continue, sir.

“By nature, this is a very calm, affectionate animal,- writes Sosnovsky. - He does not show any aggression towards a person. Pin-Pin is active and curious, but after a meal he rests and sleeps for a long time. When irritated or hungry, it emits low sounds, somewhat reminiscent of the bleating of a sheep. V warm weather the animal willingly bathes, submerging its entire body in water. Strong heat and sun does not tolerate well ...

From May to October, our bamboo bear is housed in a large open enclosure with natural soil and water, with a cool shelter from the sun. During the heat, the bear often goes into it for long time... From October to May, the animal is in closed room, which maintains an average of 12-16 degrees Celsius.

The daily ration of Pin-Pin is 2 kilograms of rice or oatmeal, cooked in milk, 100 grams of sugar, 400 grams of fruit juices, about 500 bamboo shoots and leaves, and 2 eggs. He willingly drinks fruit juices, sweet tea and eats grated carrots, birch and willow branches.
At London Zoo, the bamboo bear eats bananas, oranges, apples, White bread, cottage cheese and chicken meat ".

But let's return now to An-An, depicted on a postage stamp issued in 1964 for the 100th anniversary of the zoo. He lived until 1972. That's what I.P. Sosnovsky wrote about him in the book "Pets of the Moscow Zoo" (1974):

“At the beginning there were great difficulties with feeding. The bear did not want to eat anything except his usual food - bamboo. And where to get it, and even fresh? I had to fly to Sukhumi, Batumi, prepare bamboo there and send them by air to Moscow. We also contacted botanical gardens but it was all time consuming and expensive. We decided to gradually teach the new settler to Russian dishes, to Russian cuisine. The menu included cereals, fruits, vegetables, sweet tea, and instead of bamboo, birch, willow and linden brooms. And nothing, I'm used to it. He grew up well, developed well and forgot his favorite bamboo. Its weight has reached more than 150 kilograms, and the body length is about 1.5 meters ...

... Biting on his favorite brooms or branches with fresh leaves, he must sit down, leaning his back on a tree trunk. Thin branches, twigs deftly holds with the fingers of the front paws and with sharp teeth-incisors quickly eats leaves from them. The mobility of the fingers is such that he can hold the lead in his paw.

... By nature, he was very calm, good-natured, gave the opportunity to stroke himself, to scratch himself and never made an attempt to viciously reject the caress. True, if he was bored, he could grab it with his paw, and his claws are large and sharp ”...

An-An in an aviary near the Bamboo House

An-An, apparently, also lived at first on the Island of Animals. But in 1962, a special small building with two enclosures was built especially for him on the Old Territory - the Bamboo House. He lived there for 10 years. After his death, other animals were kept there, and in the late 70s this complex was converted to house spectacled bears.

In the late 1960s, the legendary epic of matchmaking between An-An and the London female Chi-Chi took place. I.P. Sosnovsky:

“In 1966, the Zoological Society of London approached us with a proposal to unite the female Chi-Chi, which belongs to him and lives in the London Zoo, with our An-An. We agreed. Considering the enormous scientific value of these rare animals, the British and Soviet sides entered into an agreement on state level about an experiment to combine a Moscow "bachelor" with a London "bride".

In March 1966, Chi-Chi flew to Moscow on a passenger plane, on board which was written in large letters: “Special flight. Panda". To a meeting in international airport"Sheremetyevo" gathered about 200 people. There were our and foreign correspondents, representatives of the British Embassy, ​​employees of the USSR Ministry of Culture, employees of the zoo, television and radio. One of the journalists jokingly said: “I often visit this port, but so far not a single king or prime minister has been met” ...

Chi-Chi before flying from London to Moscow (photo from the book by I.P. Sosnovsky "Behind the curtains of the zoo", 1989)

…After the quarantine, the "bride" took place. Experts have determined that both "betrothed" are in good health. After that, the animals were kept separately for several days, however, they were given the opportunity to get to know each other through the bars. The animals seemed to treat each other with good intentions. We decided to connect. The male was first released into the spacious enclosure. He was noticeably worried, circled around the enclosure, peering into all corners, made slightly squealing sounds and strenuously moved his nose. I was looking for my "betrothed" by the smell. When he calmed down, they opened the door from the female's room. She did not leave immediately, looked around for a long time, sniffed, then climbed out through open door and carefully stepped to the ground. For several minutes Chi-Chi and An-An kept at a distance from each other, then approached and again parted rather calmly. The employees of the Moscow and London zoos who were present at the same time rejoiced: our wards became friends, got used to each other! And suddenly, quite suddenly, the male pounced on the female, grabbing her with his teeth by back leg... And a fierce battle began with desperate screams and the roar of animals. We had in advance provided security measures in case of an unsuccessful "marriage date". The cannons instantly started working, blank shots from hunting rifles were heard, whistles and shouts rose, but the animals went into a rage. The fight continued. To separate them, a whole fire brigade rushed into the enclosure. The fighters were surrounded and launched an offensive with plywood shields and sharp peaks, at the same time pouring jets of water on them. All this cooled the ardor of An-An, and he retreated. They managed to drive him into an isolated cage.

Several days passed, the animals were kept one by one, and then they tried to connect again. When the pandas were re-released into the common enclosure, the roles were reversed. Now, seizing the moment, the female pounced on the male: she hit him with her paws, grabbed her teeth ...

Chi-Chi in the aviary of the Moscow Zoo (photo from the magazine "Youth", 1966)

… Chi-Chi lived in our zoo for more than six months, but they never became friends with An-An. No wedding took place. Apparently, they did not agree ... It was a pity for us to part with Chi-Chi, and it was a pity that the experiment had failed ".

Today, from the height of knowledge of modern zoo science, one can only smile condescendingly over these lines. After all, the "wedding" of the pandas could not take place. Pandas are not dogs, their mating will not work as a result of sitting in the same cage. Scientists now know that the bamboo bear is capable of conceiving (and adopting a male) only once a year for a short time span of 24 to 48 hours. And that's it! They will not converge at the appointed moment - to wait for her for another year. But how did zoo workers know this at the time? There was also no technology to determine the readiness of a female for conception and her pregnancy by urine analysis.

But let's not smile. Who knows what success zoo biology will achieve in another 30 years, what new knowledge will replace today's? Perhaps any animal for the zoo can be cloned, and no one will have to be removed from nature. Perhaps animals and birds will appear in zoos, long ago exterminated and extinct, and Jurassic or Pleistocene parks will become as real as the Internet ...

However, in the 1960s, no one thought about it. They decided that Chi-Chi was simply uncomfortable in Moscow, and the meeting on the Thames would be more successful:

“In 1968 our An-An flew to London on a return visit, - writes I.P. Sosnovsky, - and we hoped that the dates at the bride's residence would be more successful. However, despite the excellent conditions created for the pandas at the London Zoo, this meeting was unsuccessful. They again did not want to make friends "…

CM. Kudryavtsev accompanies An-An to the airport

Together with the director of the Moscow Zoo, the zoo zoologist Stanislav Mikhailovich Kudryavtsev flew to London, he also lived there all those months that An-Anh was a guest at the London Zoo, regularly informing Moscow about the progress of the project. And if for An-An that trip ended in nothing, then his escort found many friends in Great Britain. The local colleagues highly appreciated the knowledge and interest of the Muscovite. Home Kudryavtsev returned as a member of the London Zoological Society.

CM. Kudryavtsev (left) and An-An at the London Zoo

British “Press, television and radio informed Londoners almost daily about what was going on between the pandas. Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of amateur photographers captured this pair on films of their cameras, artists made sketches, toy bamboo bears and porcelain figurines depicting them were sold in stores. This is what a celebrity our An-An was ", - this is how Igor Petrovich Sosnovsky ends his story.

Muscovites and guests of the Russian capital got a new opportunity to see live pandas only 29 years after An-An's death - in 2001, during the Days of Beijing Culture in Moscow.

Bamboo Bear Ben-Ben. Moscow, end of June-2001

Below are quotes from the annual report of the Moscow Zoo:
“Negotiations with the Chinese side began six months before this event. An agreement was signed, signed by representatives of the two municipalities. It stipulated the conditions for transportation, accommodation, insurance, feeding, veterinary services for animals and accommodation of accompanying specialists from the PRC. Under the agreement, two pandas from the Beijing Zoo flew to Moscow for two months. The pavilion "Cats of the Tropics" was chosen for their maintenance..

A group of Chinese specialists arrived in advance and examined the premises, expressed their wishes and comments and agreed to exhibit giant pandas. While waiting for valuable exhibits, we experienced many exciting, troublesome, and often unpleasant minutes: replanting jaguars from the pavilion, installing air conditioners in cages, re-equipping and strengthening the enclosures ... And the terrible day when the pandas arrived cost gray hair to more than one zoo employee. Expected by 7 o'clock in the morning, due to problems at customs, the bamboo bears arrived only at 9 o'clock in the evening. The exhausted staff - both those waiting at the zoo and those who met at the airport - were terrifying to look at. Basically, of course, they were worried about the animals, and when the pandas were planted in spacious, comfortable cages and fed, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "…

Bamboo bear Ven-Ven. Moscow, end of June-2001

“The Moscow Zoo has signed a special contract for the receipt of fresh bamboo from Adler. Bamboo was delivered by plane twice a week at the rate of 35 kg per animal ".

Diner Wen-Wen, rear view

The "guest performers" from Beijing were heterosexual and were kept in two separate enclosures. Both animals were born in the Beijing Zoo - a 9-year-old female Weng-Weng, named after the director of the zoo, Comrade Wen, and a male named Ben-Ben, which means Goby: he was born in the year of the Ox and celebrated his 4th birthday on July 24 in Moscow.

The measured life of Ven-Ven in the Moscow Zoo: eat, take a walk - eat again ...

At the end of June, after a two-week adaptation period, the bamboo bears were introduced to the public. Outlandish and rare animals have caused a great influx of people to the zoo, which in summer does not suffer without the attention of visitors. The "Panda Boom" lasted a little over a month, and then the animals were safely returned to the Beijing Zoo.

Poster from 1957 (color from the black and white original inspired by the imagination of the author of the post)

In addition to giant pandas, there were also small pandas in the collection of the Moscow Zoo. They were brought here from China just in the same May 1957, when Pin-Pin arrived - as a gift from the mayor of Beijing, Comrade Pyn Zhen (and, along with pandas, also two giant salamanders, two pangolins and a cobra). Demonstrated small pandas in the Furry Ryad on New territory- where there are now paddocks for riding horses. How long they lived here, I can't say - what I don't know, I don't know. However, for several years now, the Moscow Zoo has been waiting for the opportunity to obtain small pandas within the framework of the EEP - the European breeding program. rare species... For them, cages have long been prepared, and walking on the Island of Animals - the same empty sector with a house between Kamchatka and Himalayan bears, which most likely paid attention to. Let's hope that sooner or later they will appear here.

In the 90s, little pandas were imported in two Russian zoo- Leningrad and Novosibirsk. Moreover, in the city on the Neva, a couple of pandas did not live even a year, apparently dying from infection and not even being included in the annual list of animals from the collections of EARAZA zoos (it is compiled as of January 1). And of the couple that arrived in Novosibirsk in 1992, a female named Daughter (she is in this picture) lived until 2001, that is, 10 years. The male died in the 95th or 96th year. In 1999, a male born in the Dresden Zoo was brought to my Daughter, but he survived her by only 3 years.

I saw Daughter in 1998. She spent almost all daylight hours in her house, so during the four hot days I spent at the Novosibirsk Zoo, I practically had no chance of photographing her. But the park staff took pity on me: my daughter could not resist the squeak of a specially brought daily chicken and crawled out of the hiding place overtime. However, while I was digging with my old Zenit, it quickly rushed back, so I managed to make only two shots, none of which can be called successful ...

Little panda Daughter (Novosibirsk Zoo, 1998)

P.S. It has been a long time since this post was written. For two years now, small pandas have been living between Kamchatka and Himalayan bears on the "Island of Animals" in the Moscow Zoo. And the closest to European Russia representatives of this species can be found in zoos in Warsaw and Helsinki. (23/03/2011)

Sources of information and some illustrations:

Where to see pandas. Which zoo has a panda.
Children want to see pandas, where can they do it?
In May, I wrote about Alpaca Park in Thailand, the place is really super-duper, I highly recommend everyone to go there.
Now it's the turn of the Chiang Mai Zoo. Why is it really worth going there?
You can see pandas there !! A rare zoo can boast of pandas, because they are very expensive and require special maintenance and special nutrition.

Where to see pandas

We have already visited pandas twice, and both times we received a bunch of positive emotions... What is important to know? Pandas are terrible sleepyheads and they move very little, so if you want to catch them moving, then schedule your time so that you go to the pandas at exactly one in the afternoon, at which time they are fed. If you come earlier and leave, then you will not be allowed to enter again, you will have to buy a new ticket for 100 baht. A ticket to the zoo itself costs about 220-300 baht, it depends on the time of year.
Pandas can be viewed up close and photographed, but only without a flash. You can also buy postcards with pandas or postcards made from dried panda excrement there. Yes, it's strange, but Asians love such souvenirs, like it's environmentally friendly, natural and very fashionable.
You can come to the zoo in Chiang Mai at any time of the year, it is located next to the old city, closer to Mount Doi Suthep.
Here you can see pandas as close to natural conditions as possible. They have an air conditioner and a humidifier. Lots of greenery and toys. Fresh food is brought to them.

They are not in a cage, only partially behind glass, so photos with pandas come out very good.
In Chiang Mai, you can see two pan - a boy and a girl at once. They live through a partition, he is sometimes given to them to spend time together, they even had a baby, which speaks of a very good conditions content of pandas.

where to see pandas When little panda grew up, he was sent to China, these are the conditions for renting pandas. All baby pandas not born in China belong to China and must be returned there.
Now you know where you can see pandas.
I'm sure your children will be delighted if they look at the pandas, the main thing is to find them awake :)))
Pandas are just lovely, they are as cute as huge plush toys.
Chiang Mai is the northern capital of Thailand, from Bangkok you can fly there by plane in just an hour, or by train in one night.
And if you want to arrange an unforgettable holiday for your children, then animators for a children's birthday are one of the best options. Live Jack Sparrow will come to visit you, of course, if you live in Yekaterinburg. At the E-Holiday stage, you can find a lot of interesting things and get balloons as a gift for the general order.
And a photo of beautiful flamingos lastly, suddenly you were looking for where to see flamingos. Beautiful birds))

Where to see pandas

Settled there just a couple of years ago. The animals frolicked so well in the snow that they attracted everyone's attention.

Although this is not surprising, because red pandas are alpine animals. The MIR 24 website has prepared a photo report for you, how Zane and Ryzhik experiencing this hot summer.

Eleven o'clock in the morning is the feeding time for pandas and the most active period of the day for these animals. Their territory in the Moscow Zoo consists of two "rooms" - a green open-air cage and a cool room in the building.

The enclosures are equipped with wooden bridges, logs and ladders, along which nimble pandas can climb and hide from people's attention. Here and there, pieces of fruit are suspended on ropes so that the pandas do not get bored and get some of their food on their own.

“They live in the Himalayas, China, Nepal, mainly in the highlands,” says zoologist Natalya Papaeva, who has been babysitting pandas since their arrival at the zoo. - 95% of their diet consists of fresh bamboo leaves, the rest is fruits, berries, sometimes quail eggs... A special type of bamboo is brought to us once a week from Sochi.

We give red pandas a special dry mix for pandas and fruits: apples, pears, bananas, grapes, apricots, as well as seasonal berries. Plus we give them carrots, zucchini, pumpkin and quail eggs, but they don't like chicken eggs. But the most important thing is to provide them with fresh bamboo. "

During the day, red pandas mostly eat and sleep. It takes a lot of energy for their bodies to digest so much bamboo and absorb nutrients.

These creatures do not tolerate heat very well, says Natalya. The maximum allowable temperature for them is 30 degrees, so the closed aviary is equipped with air conditioning, where animals can rest peacefully.

Despite their ardent love for snow, red pandas do not like water and do not try to splash in the shallow pool in the aviary, using it only for drinking. The thermometer is approaching 30, but Zane and Ryzhik prefer to be in an open cage and constantly chew something, holding pieces of fruit in their paws.

A female named Zane arrived at the Moscow Zoo from Dublin in the fall of 2014, and about a year later, a male was brought from Poland.

“Both were very shy at first, now, if not tame, then, by at least, take pieces from their hands and let themselves be stroked. But not like cats, after all, they do not like to be touched by people. By nature, Zane is calmer, sleeps and eats more often, and very rarely plays with toys.

And the male is more active - he likes to run. Visitors named it Ryzhik. In general, he has Chinese name, but it is very complicated, and we also call him Ryzhik among ourselves, ”- a veterinarian and zoologist by training, Natalya has been working at the zoo for 10 years already.

What could be cuter than red pandas? Red panda cubs, of course! But, unfortunately, the zoo does not yet have a breeding program.

“For the female's estrus, we put them in different cages. So far, ”the zoologist throws up his hands.

The rest of the time, Zane and Ryzhik live together. To make life in the enclosure more fun, the zoo staff come up with logic puzzles for their wards, which pandas successfully cope with, demonstrating cunning.

“They are used to visitors. When we arrived, it was hard for them. At first, we generally closed the hall so that there were no people. Sometimes pandas don't like something, for example, when children run and scream. But more often than not they simply do not notice people - they sleep either upstairs or in the houses in the aviary. "

Unfortunately, the life span of red pandas is shorter than that of cats - approximately 10-12 years. Today Zane is 3.5 years old, and Ryzhik is a year younger. Note that red pandas are included in the Red Book with the "Endangered" status.

Finally, here is the very sight that made the visitors of the Moscow Zoo fall in love with red pandas: