BROOKLYN — A pair of little pandas now call Brooklyn home.
Two baby red pandas have a new home at the Prospect Park Zoo, the zoo announced Monday, joining their mom in the Discovery Trail habitat at the Flatbush Avenue facility.
The panda cubs — one female and one male — were born at the zoo this summer as part of the “Species Survival Plan,” a breeding program designed to improve “genetic viability” of rare animals among accredited zoos, the Prospect Park Zoo said in its announcement.
The red panda cubs will reach adulthood at about 18 months, zoo officials said, when their soft, light brown coats become more coarse. In a video of the zoo’s newest residents, the two young pandas are seen in their forested habitat with their mom, toddling along the ground and climbing trees.
Due to deforestation in their native habitats of China, Myanmar and the Himalayan region, red pandas are listed as “vulnerable” by the International Union of Conservation of Nature, zoo officials said.
The Prospect Park Zoo was already home to at least two adult red pandas. The cuddly-looking, raccoon-like animals can also be found at The Bronx Zoo and Central Park Zoo.
The Prospect Park Zoo is open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 450 Flatbush Ave. in Brooklyn.
