Double joy for Darjeeling Zoo as both red pandas & snow leopard give birth

DARJEELING: There are twin reasons to cheer for the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park (Pnhzp) Darjeeling, popularly known as the Darjeeling Zoo. While two Pnhzp red pandas have given birth to cubs after mating with wild red pandas in the Singhalila National Park, the oldest snow leopard, aged 13 years, has given birth to a cub in the breeding facility of the Pnhzp.

“We have two good news. The birth of zoo-bred red pandas in the wild heralds the success of the zoo’s breeding programme to augment the red panda population in the wild. On the other hand, the rare and endangered snow leopard has also given birth to a cub. It is a day of great joy”, stated Jyoti Priya Mallick, minister in charge of forest in the government of West Bengal while talking to the Millennium Post.

On December 26, 2022, 3 Pnhzp bred radio-collared red pandas had been released in the Singhalila National Park. “The female red pandas named Teesta and Nira, both three years old, have given birth to 2 cubs each after mating with wild red pandas. The mother and cubs are being carefully monitored from a distance without causing any disturbance to the animals. These births mark the success of the red panda augmentation programme in the wilderness of Singhalila National Park”, stated Dr Basavaraj Holeyachi, director of Pnhzp.

Darjeeling Zoo is the coordinating zoo for Project Red Panda in India. The project was initiated in 1990 at the Pnhzp.

13-year-old snow leopard Zima gave birth to a cub on July 28, 2023.

“At the age of 13 years and three months, she is the oldest snow leopard to give birth in the last three decades of the Snow Leopard Conservation Breeding Programme of the Pnhzp”, added the director. Earlier in April, two snow leopards had given birth to 5 cubs. The total number of cubs born this year is 6- the highest number of surviving cubs in a single year since the inception of the breeding programme three decades ago.