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So the day started a bit slowly on account of being unfamiliar with the area around our hotel, which is just a nice way of saying we got lost trying to find a bagel for breakfast. We finally arrived at the Prospect Park Zoo around 11:30 and we booked it to the red panda exhibit. When we got there, I saw a red panda run out of my field of vision immediately. There were a lot (and I mean A LOT) of school groups at the zoo today so I was nervous the screaming children were responsible for spooking the poor guy. It only took a few minutes for me to realize that this red panda was completely oblivious to the crowds and just genuinely liked running around his enclosure. I kept gawking at this behavior because I am so used to seeing red pandas lazily lounging about, with only an occasional burst of energy.
This is one of the zoos where I was unable to contact an employee/keeper before visiting so I was content to just stand around the exhibit, hoping someone would walk by and point me in the right direction as far as talking to someone about
their red pandas. I did this for about half an hour, taking tons of pictures of my speedy little friend. Eventually, the 5 year old who calls me "Mom" couldn't take it any longer so we decided to walk around the zoo a bit. I did manage to corner someone with an official looking name badge and she brought me to the administrative building to see if someone would talk to me. I met one of the keepers, but she wasn't able to answer all of my questions. I did find out that the Prospect Park Zoo has two red pandas: Qin (pronounced 'chin'), an adult male, and Bo, Qin's juvenile son. Bo was the one I observed on exhibit. I was able to get contact information for the zoo's PR person so hopefully Red Panda Network will be able to get in touch about possibly coordinating something for International Red Panda Day in September.
We left shortly after speaking with the keeper and headed to the Central Park Zoo. Here, I observed much more familiar red panda behavior: lots of sleeping for the two animals on exhibit. After asking a few people about the red pandas and not
getting much information, I think I am going to have to reach out to the zoo via email in order to collect the info I was hoping to get. No one I spoke to could even tell me their names. I am sure I was just speaking with the wrong people, but it was a bit frustrating nonetheless. Besides the red pandas, the zoo was beautiful and my son especially enjoyed seeing the snow leopards.
So that's Day One in a nutshell. Tomorrow, we will head to the Bronx Zoo and then Sunday will be Philadelphia Zoo!
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Bo, Prospect Park Zoo
Pia Edborg
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Names Of The Red Pandas At Central Park Zoo
I believe their names are Biru and Amaya. They also have a third red panda named Rohan, but he hasn't been there that long so he was probably not on exhibit yet.