A six-week old red panda cub died in an incubator in the º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøZoo’s intensive care unit on Wednesday.
The male cub, one of two unexpectedly born at the zoo in June, was brought to the facility’s wildlife health centre after a staff member noticed he was dehydrated, had a reduced appetite and felt cold to touch.
Two baby red pandas were born at the º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøZoo last month. The male died Wednesday, a week after Masai giraffe Matumaini died at the zoo during a castration procedure.
º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøZooThe news of his death comes just one week after Matumaini, a Masai giraffe nicknamed Matu for short, died at the Zoo during a castration procedure.
“Matu was this very tragic and unexpected loss and I think people are reeling from that, so this is really sad on top of that,” Nic Masters, the zoo’s director of wildlife health, told the Star.
Matu, pictured at three weeks old with his mother in 2022, was under anesthesia while undergoing a castration procedure when he stopped breathing last week, the zoo said.Â
Steve Russell/º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøStar file photo“We’ve known for a little while that this might happen for this little cub,” Masters said. “It would have been wonderful if both of the cubs had survived, but we weren’t always expecting that to be the case.”
In June, the zoo confirmed that Sakura, an 11-year-old female red panda, was surprisingly pregnant when she arrived in º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøin January from the Greater Vancouver Zoo where she gave birth to twins in 2022. She was part of the Species Survival Plan program, which manages animals across North America to ensure the population is healthy and genetically stable.
Sakura gave birth to the cubs on June 13, defying an often difficult reproduction process for the species and helping bolster a fledgling red panda population that has declined by an estimated 50 per cent globally in the last 20 years.
Sakura the red panda came to º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøfrom Vancouver earlier this year. Zookeepers were in for an unexpected surprise.
Sakura the red panda came to º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøfrom Vancouver earlier this year. Zookeepers were in for an unexpected surprise.
Once in Toronto, the zoo team conducted an ultrasound — which Sakura happily participated in, putting her paws up on a T-bar — and discovered she was pregnant.
Red pandas have a low offspring survival rate due to infections, such as distemper and pneumonia. According to the zoo, scientific studies show that as few as 40 per cent of red panda cubs reach their first birthday.
Masters said Sakura last month started experiencing significant health issues, not uncommon for her age, as she showed abnormal neurological activity.
Masters added the wildlife health team had been carefully monitoring the cubs since birth, weighing them regularly to ensure they were continuing to put on weight.
Earlier this week, they noticed their weight gain had slowed and were concerned the cubs weren’t getting the necessary milk from their mother, so they began supplemental feeding.
Then suddenly yesterday, they found the male cub was much less active and had serious health concerns.
“We gave hum fluids, we warmed him up and tried to get him going, but, unfortunately, we were unsuccessful,” Masters said.
The zoo added in their statement announcing the cub’s death that his sister is currently healthy, but it will be “some time” before her future is secure.
The male cub was informally referred to as Smalls by the zoo’s team due to his much smaller size compared to his sister, who is referred to as Biggie. The zoo plans on giving a formal name to the remaining cub when it’s shown she can independently thrive.
An autopsy confirmed that the smaller cub had no fat reserve, seemingly caused by his small stature.
“As the ‘runt’ of the two cubs, he was already at a disadvantage when facing the recent reduced milk production from his mom,” the zoo said in their statement.
The zoo added that there were signs of aspiration affecting his lungs and two sections of his intestines were sliding into the adjacent portion, which restricted the passage of his food as well as blood flow.
The cub was just six weeks old at the time of his death and Masters described him as “indescribably cute.”
“It’s impossible not to fall in love with these cubs,” he said.
Sakura is being closely monitored by the zoo as she is no longer nursing the remaining cub, but is cleaning and caring for her in other ways.
The zoo said they will both not be visible to visitors and updates will be provided regarding their progress.
“We very much hope the remaining cub will make it through,” Masters said. “We’re going to do all the best we can to make that the case.”
With files from Mark Colley
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