Mystery revealed: Cleveland Metroparks Zoo announces species of new baby animal

CLEVELAND (WJW) — The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo revealed that an adorable new baby was born at the zoo. However, the kind of animal was, at first, a mystery … a least to the public.

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Wednesday, the zoo shared a photo of the sweet new baby on social media saying: “We can’t wait to introduce our adorable new arrival, but before we do, who can guess the species?”

Hundreds of commenters posted their guesses, with the top contenders being red panda and porcupine. One commenter didn’t seem to care the exact species, writing: “Latin name: Cutis patootis.”

Thursday, the zoo revealed the animal is indeed a red panda.

“This little one was born on June 21, 2026 to mother Poppy and father Willie,” the zoo said in a Facebook statement. “This sweet cub is growing healthy and strong behind-the-scenes with care from Poppy and our animal care team. Stay tuned as we share more adorable updates on our red panda family.”

The animal is not on display to the public yet. FOX 8 will update this story as more is revealed by the zoo…

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