TORONTO, ON, Thursday, August 1, 2024: As we’ve shared with our Zoo community, the first few months of red panda cubs’ lives are a critical period, which highlights how fragile this species is whether under human care or in the wild. Last night, we sadly lost one of the two red panda cubs that were born at your Toronto Zoo on June 13th.
It’s been a long journey, beginning with Sakura, a geriatric 10-year-old female’s arrival at your Toronto Zoo early this year. Sakura was past a typical breeding age and was coming here to spend her retirement from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan®. To everyone’s surprise, in early June we confirmed she had arrived in Toronto pregnant, and the Wildlife Care team began preparations for the arrival of two cubs.
We also shared that earlier this month Sakura started experiencing significant health issues which is not unusual for a geriatric red panda. She began showing behaviours suggestive of abnormal neurological activity. Given her age and declining health, a precautionary decision was made by the Wildlife Care team to begin supplemental feedings for the cubs earlier this week. Red pandas have low rates of offspring survival both in the wild and in human care and recent scientific studies have shown that as few as 40% of cubs reach their first birthday, so it was critical to step in and provide this additional care.
Sakura’s condition recently worsened, so our vet team has been providing medical care with the goal of having her healthy enough to continue to raise her cubs until they could thrive independently. Yesterday, the smaller of the two red panda cubs was brought to the Zoo’s Wildlife Health Centre after Wildlife Care staff observed he was not drinking well, had a reduced appetite and felt cold to the touch. The vet team moved him to an incubator in the intensive care unit and despite all efforts, the littlest one passed away- he was just shy of six weeks.
A gross post-mortem examination was conducted last night. What was most obvious in the results was that he had no fat reserve - as the “runt” of the two cubs, he was already at a disadvantage when facing the recent reduced milk production from his mom. The larger female cub has much better fat reserves which has helped her through this short period of caloric deficit (meaning calories are burned faster than they are consumed). There were also signs of aspiration affecting his lungs which is not uncommon when syringe supplementing newborns and this becomes increasingly more likely when they are also weak.
The little one also had two intussusceptions in his intestines which means that one section of his intestine was sliding into the adjacent portion (like a collapsing telescope), restricting the tube (lumen) of the intestine and obstructing or decreasing the passage of food. This can also restrict blood flow to the affected piece of intestine and cause inflammation and adhesions. This condition can result in symptoms such as vomiting or diarrhea, but that was not experienced by this little cub.
While this outcome is not unexpected given their high mortality rate in their first year, we are truly saddened by this loss. The Zoo team is focused on the remaining female cub that currently appears healthy, but it will be some time before her future is secure. We also continue to closely monitor Sakura, as she is no longer nursing her remaining cub but is cleaning and caring for her in other ways. Sakura is currently stable and receiving medical treatment and we are balancing the risk of separating her from the remaining cub against the need to understand fully the cause of her seizures which is why we have opted to have them remain together during this time.
Sakura and her remaining female cub will not be visible in the red panda habitat and we will continue to provide updates on their progress.