On Veterans Day, Sarah and Emily accompanied me to the Cincinnati Zoo for an encounter with the red pandas. This was my combination Mother's Day and birthday present that was delayed due to the pandemic.
Emily and I left our house about 10:00 AM for the trip north on a sunny, warm fall day. On the way, Emily got a phone call asking if we could arrive early since rain was predicted to start about 1:30, the time of our tour. After verifying the earliest that Sarah could meet us after work at The Christ Hospital, Emily let Andrew know that we would be ready between 12:15 and 12:30. After a quick stop at Menard's to pick up an order for Steve, we drove to the zoo. Emily picked up her new zoo card while we waited for Sarah.
We were met by Andrew who greet us warmly and let us know that he would be taking hundreds of pictures so that we could focus on the tour. This was great news since Steve, the normal cameraman, was at home. We made our way through the children's zoo to the back of the enclosure where we met Mary, one of the zookeepers.
Mary explained that the keepers used apple or banana pieces to train the red pandas so that they could get proper daily and veterinary care. We first met sisters, Audra and Lenore, who were about two and a half years old. Lenore was very eager to great us through the cage in exchange for apple slices. Once we went into the panda's yard, Andrew got to work taking pictures. Lenore stayed in her behind the scenes home, but Audra eagerly joined us for pictures and apples.
We spent about 30 minutes learning outside about the red pandas (Ailurus fulgens), which are the only true pandas. There are two distinct species, the Chinese and the Himalayan; these were Chinese. The great panda is actually a bear.
They eat bamboo leaves, not the stalks, and are less picky about their diets than the great panda. They will eat other leaves, fruit and meat since they are carnivores. The zoo only provides them with a plant based diet, but they supplement it with insects, moles or small garter snakes when they can find them. They feasted on cicadas during this summers emergence of a 17-year brood.
Red pandas are solitary, spending most of their days in the trees. They can turn their rear ankles around, allowing them to climb down trees head-first. They also have a false thumb that they use to hold food. They are black underneath to camouflage them from the snow leopards, their main predator. Their bushy tail is used for balance and typically has 6 white rings.
Since they live high in the mountains, they are much more visible in the zoo when it is cool or cold. While they have 24-hour access to the outdoors, in the summer they prefer to remain in the air conditioned dens.
The zoo currently has five red pandas. The male is number 4 in the desirability index of captive red pandas. Lin, the mother, has produced a number of off-spring including Audra, Lenore, and the new baby, Shenmi. Shenmi, which means Mystery, has an appropriate name. Lin was verified to be pregnant, then later ultrasounds revealed no baby. Later in the summer, they thought she was fat from cicadas, when the baby appeared in the nest box.
We spent the next 30 minutes in Lin's den area with the family as we learned more about them and their care.. Their fur is quite luxurious, unfortunately leading to the desirability of their skins for hats. Shenmi was very soft as well. Once the apples were gone, they clambered around us looking for more treats. Being raised in a zoo, they were very sociable.
We enjoyed our visit and were glad to find out that they cost helped care for them in the zoo and wild red pandas via the Red Panda Network. It began to rain as we left, so we were happy to have started our tour early. We finished the day with lunch at Dusmesh Indian Restaurant, where we shared a meal of chicken dal, lamb rogan josh and vegetable biryani with Keshmeri naan. We even had enough to take home a few leftovers.
This tour was well worth the cost, and the 120 pictures Andrew provided are a wonderful remembrance of the day.
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