Saskatoon residents wanting to catch a glimpse of Phoenix, a red panda that now calls the Forestry Farm home, will have to wait until after Christmas.
John Moran, the zoo’s manager, said it could take a few weeks, even months, for Phoenix to comfortably move in to his new home. The red panda likely won’t be viewable to zoo-goers until after the holidays.
“It will be a bit of a slow process,” Moran said.
Phoenix moved to the Saskatoon zoo from Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park Zoo 10 days ago. The two-year-old red panda was born in the Manitoba facility.
The animal is currently living in a heated enclosure at the Forestry Farm. Zookeepers will have to wait for a few warm winter days to allow Phoenix to adjust to outside temperatures.
Moran joked that Phoenix got the short end of the stick when he and his brother were split up from the Winnipeg zoo.
“His brother went to San Diego. He got the warm temperatures. Phoenix got the cold,” Moran laughed before clarifying, in fact, red pandas thrive in cold temperatures.
Red pandas, an endangered species, are native to the Himalaya Mountains in China. Moran said the zoo will have more trouble keeping Phoenix comfortable in the summer heat than they will have keeping him happy in the cold.
“Our issues are going to be in the summer,” he said.
The Forestry Farm is currently bringing in bamboo leaves from Ohio to feed Phoenix. Red pandas eat about 200 grams of bamboo leaves a day.
The zoo is hoping they’ll eventually be able to bring in a mating partner for Phoenix, but Moran said it could take a few years before they get a second red panda.
Male red pandas are solitary animals, Moran said, and so far Phoenix has not shown any signs of missing his brother.
“He’s settled right in nicely.”
