Two endangered red panda cubs born at Cork's Fota Wildlife Park
Cork's
Fota Wildlife Park, it has been announced.
Born at Fota's conservation centre, the cubs are the offspring of three-year-old mother Suzi, who arrived at Fota Wildlife Park from Berlin Zoo, and seven-year-old father Grga, who was transferred from Zagreb Zoo in
Croatia
in June 2019.
The cubs are not yet visible to the public, remaining in a nesting box where they sleep and nurse with their mother, Fota Wildlife Park said in a statement on Wednesday.
Visitors might be able to catch a glimpse of them in the next three weeks as they begin to explore their surroundings under the supervision of their mother during brief periods in the early morning or late evening.
READ MORE
The red panda, which has reddish-brown fur, a bushy ringed tail and a bear-like body, is classified as endangered by the World Wildlife Fund. They are often poached for their distinctive pelts in
China
and
Myanmar
.
The cubs' parents are part of the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP), a collaborative initiative among European zoos and wildlife parks to ensure the survival of the threatened species through coordinated breeding efforts.
The park is now home to six red pandas that live in a specially designed habitat in the Asian sanctuary, where they are fed freshly harvested bamboo grown on site.
Julien Fonteneau, lead ranger at Fota Wildlife Park, said the care of an endangered species is 'one of the most meaningful aspects of the animal care work at Fota Wildlife Park'.
'We hope that the red panda births will raise awareness around species and
biodiversity
loss and will inspire and educate the visiting public and future generations,' Mr Fonteneau said.
The park is calling on the public to help name the new cubs. Suggestions can be entered
here
.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
Fresh challenges to State's refusal to further backdate bereaved partners' pensions
The Government faces a challenge under equality laws to further backdate social welfare payments to bereaved partners who were denied pension entitlements because they were unmarried. In July, a new law came into effect that opened up the existing widows and widowers pension to some bereaved unmarried partners. Payments will be backdated only as far as January 2024, which is when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of Co Tipperary father-of-three Johnny O'Meara in his challenge to the State's decision to refuse him a Widower's Contributory Pension. Mr O'Meara and his three children had been denied the social welfare payment after losing his long-term partner and their mother, Michelle Batey. They were deemed ineligible because Mr O'Meara and Ms Batey had not been married. John O'Meara, pictured with his children Aoife, Jack and Tommy, won his Supreme Court appeal over being refused the Widowers' Contributory Pension. Photograph: Collins Courts The Bereaved Partners Bill followed the Supreme Court ruling in Mr O'Meara's case. Since July 21st, the pension has been extended to bereaved partners who were in a relationship of at least two years with the late parent of their child. If they had no children, they must have been with their late partner for at least five years. READ MORE Under the law, those who lost their partner before the O'Meara judgment will only have their social welfare payments backdated to January 2024. In Mr O'Meara's case, his payments were backdated to his application for the Widows Pension. At least two women who lost their partners are now seeking to challenge the State's refusal to backdate their payments. Una Dunphy was refused the Widow's Pension in 2009, after her long-term partner Nicky O'Connor died following an accident. Mr O'Connor and Ms Dunphy shared six children together and were in a relationship for 13 years. Ms Dunphy said she is taking a case to the Workplace Relations Commission against the Department of Social Protection over the social welfare payments she claims she was wrongly denied. Ms Dunphy said some of her children are now over the age of 18 and never benefitted from the support payment the family should have been offered. In her complaint under the Equal Status Act, Ms Dunphy cites Mr O'Meara's Supreme Court victory, saying: 'The same Constitution applied to my application in 2009, and the refusal should now also be quashed and damages paid to my family for the failure of the Department of Social Protection to protect us from poverty and avail of an acceptable quality of life.' In June, the Workplace Relations Commission confirmed to Ms Dunphy that her case can proceed as the alleged discrimination is ongoing. One other bereaved partner is considering taking the case. The woman, who spoke to The Irish Times on condition of anonymity, said she did not want to yet go public due to her role in the civil service. The Department of Social Protection said it 'does not comment on individual cases or claims'.
Irish Post
19 hours ago
- Irish Post
Endangered red panda cubs born at Irish wildlife park
TWO endangered red panda cubs have been born at a wildlife park in Ireland. Fota Wildlife Park in Co. Cork announced this week that the cubs had been born at its conservation centre on June 7. While not yet visible to the public, the park has called on people to help name the cubs and hopes their birth will help raise awareness of the decline of the species in the wild. "We're absolutely delighted to announce the births of the two red pandas," said Lead Ranger Julien Fonteneau. "It's been two years since we last welcomed red panda cubs at Fota Wildlife Park." Population decline The cubs are the offspring of three-year-old mother Suzi, who arrived at Fota from Berlin Zoo, and seven-year-old father Grga, who was transferred from Zagreb Zoo in Croatia in June 2019. The parents are part of the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP), a collaborative initiative to ensure the survival of threatened species through coordinated breeding efforts. For now, the cubs remain in the nesting box, sleeping and nursing with their mother. It is not yet known what gender the cubs are. In the next three weeks, they will start to explore the habitat outside their nesting box for brief periods in the early morning or late evening under the careful supervision of their mother. The species is listed as endangered, with its population declining in the wild primarily due to habitat loss and poaching in its native range in the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. Protective Fonteneau said Suzi was being typically protective of her cubs, which are expected to make brief appearances over the coming months. "Their mother, Suzi, is a first-time mum and has taken to her new role with ease," he said. "She's currently being very protective, displaying typical red panda maternal behaviour by keeping the cubs secure, while diligently feeding and grooming them. "Being involved in the care of an endangered species is one of the most meaningful aspects of the animal care work at Fota Wildlife Park. "We hope that the red panda births will raise awareness around species and biodiversity loss and will inspire and educate the visiting public and future generations. "Although the cubs remain mostly hidden for now, visitors might be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of them when Suzi occasionally moves them between nesting boxes. "Over the next few months, and as they grow more confident, the cubs are expected to make brief appearances during quieter periods of the day, closely supervised by Suzi.' To submit a name suggestion for one of the cubs, please click here. See More: Cork, Fota Widlife Park
Irish Times
2 days ago
- Irish Times
Delusions of Paradise: Escaping the Life of a Taliban Fighter by Maiwand Banayee - New insights on every page
Delusions of Paradise: Escaping the Life of a Taliban Fighter Author : Maiwand Banayee ISBN-13 : 978-1837731909 Publisher : Icon Books Guideline Price : £20 Born into poverty in Kabul , Maiwand Banayee has written a memoir of Taliban radicalisation and his subsequent escape to Europe (including time spent in direct provision in Ireland) that sheds light on the immensity of the chaos caused in his nation by western interference. As Banayee's father states, 'When elephants fight, frogs get trampled'. Banayee is brought up in a patriarchal Pashtun community where the pride of ancestors comes before all. His insights into the tribal divisions of 1980s and 1990s Afghanistan are enlightening, with neighbours from Hazara and Pashtun backgrounds sheltering each other even as their leaders call for mutual slaughter. After fleeing a war-torn Kabul, belonging comes in the form of Taliban teachers who insist that life is only an illusion, and fulfilment comes in the next world. Denied access to formal education as a refugee in Pakistan, Banayee must study at local madrasas that use textbooks originally developed by the University of Nebraska, initially intended to train Afghanis to resist the Soviets: 'Through this curriculum, children as young as four or five learnt jihad along with their alphabet: A is for Ahmad, J is for jihad, G is for gun [ ...] Instead of teaching us to live, they were teaching us to die.' Over the course of the memoir, the complex decisions that families must make in order to survive, and the dehumanising effects of warfare, are illuminated for the reader. Every page of this book offers new insights, while also feeling distressingly familiar to anyone following the genocide in Gaza. READ MORE While searching through Russian and Mujahideen shrapnel for metal to sell to Pakistani merchants, Banayee finds what looks like a toy, only for his friend to pull him away from the disguised bomb just in time: 'How could scientists in white coats, enlightened by science and reason, spend time inside a lab to invent a bomb that could deceive and kill a child? When did children become part of their war?' The answer that the book offers, convincingly, is that children are always a pawn of war, but that with empathy and support even the most radicalised can turn towards peace. But this can only happen if we can find the small shred of generosity it takes to offer that support.
