SEEING RED OVER HEALTH CHECK
THIS guy might look like the happiest fella in Australia, but it was complete panda-monium when the stethoscope appeared.
Vets had their hands full as the two-month-old Nepalese red panda squirmed and shrieked his way through his first health check yesterday.
Born at Perth Zoo late last year, the yet-to-benamed cub isn’t expected to emerge from his nesting box until April so it will be a while before the public set their adoring eyes on him.
The panda’s nine-yearold mother Anusha was also born in Perth, while his sixyear-old father Makula was born in Canberra.
The cub’s health check coincided with the rescue of six red pandas from wildlife traffickers by the zoo’s conservation partner Free the Bears. Sadly only three of the pandas survived after they were seized on the border of Laos and China.
Zookeeper Marty Boland said the rescue proved “just how perilous it is out there” for the endangered species.