ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — The WNC Nature Center is mourning the loss of Leafa, one of two red pandas on exhibit at the center. Officials said the female red panda died after months of declining health.
“We are all heartbroken,” Erin Oldread, the curator of animal programs, said in a social media post. “But we know that we did all that we could to give her a wonderful seven years with us.”
Leafa was born in 2009 at the Red River Zoo in Fargo, North Dakota, before arriving at the WNC Nature Center in 2018 with her male counterpart, Phoenix. Together, they were the first red pandas to be exhibited in Western North Carolina.
“They were immediately embraced by all who came out to meet them and quickly became the most popular residents at the Nature Center,” Oldread said…