While San Francisco is set to receive a pair of giant pandas from China next year , animal experts in The City have spent the last 10 years pushing for a different kind of panda.
The San Francisco Zoo is set to celebrate International Red Panda Day on Saturday, commemorating the 10 years since the arrival of its first red panda in decades, Tenzing, who is named after the Nepalese mountaineer who reached Mount Everest’s summit. Prior to Tenzing’s arrival the zoo had not hosted the species since 1982.
With less than 10,000 red pandas estimated in the wild, conservationists and animal advocacy groups who spoke with The Examiner said that the work of the zoo and events like Red Panda Day are crucial in educating the public on ways in which they can help protect endangered species.
San Francisco Zoo director Tanya Peterson said the opportunity for the zoo to house Tenzing arose in 2014 as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Program , which aims to sustain endangered species’ populations in captivity. Tenzing, 10 months old at the time, came to San Francisco Zoo by way of Sacramento after being rejected by his mother. The bushy-tailed critter, no more than the size of a domestic house cat, now delights guests alongside 19-year-old female Hunter and the recently arrived Mebo, who came to San Francisco having flown from Memphis Zoo.