Zagreb Zoo

Date: 17.11.2010.

We celebrated the International Red Panda Day appropriately on Saturday, 13th. November 2010. Red haired musician Anđa Marić, the godmother, announced the names of two Red panda cubs born at Zagreb Zoo.

Two red panda cubs that were born on 25. June 2010 and have been the main attraction at the zoo for a month, due to their playing and bamboo climbing, have been given their names.

For the last two weeks, visitors could deposit name suggestions into a box in front of the Red panda enclosure. The jury was presented with a difficult task on Friday, 12.11. – choosing the best male and female name among more than 800 suggestion. After care full consideration and much thinking, names Coco for a female and Bambu for a male were chosen.

Anđa Marić, our red haired musician who was thrilled to be a godmother to our very own Zagreb-born baby red pandas announced the chosen names at exactly noon.

Chosen name for a female – Coco was suggested by Lucia Ahčin and Iva Marczius, and Ivana Šuvar and Kosana Mandić suggested the name Bambu for the male red panda cub. Zagreb Zoo also gifted them with appropriate prizes. Another girl, Gea Vlašić won a prize for the best drawing of the red pandas.

On this International Red Panda Day, visitors could find out a lot of interesting facts about this endangered species. Among other things, they were able to see what they eat, find out where they live, how they spend their days, hear keeper's experiences with Red pandas at Zagreb Zoo, learn about various species protection programs and so much more. Many children's faces left the zoo painted to look like a red panda and many visitors became proud „foster parents“ of red pandas and other favorite animals at the zoo.

The International Red Panda Day was celebrated this year for the first time. The initiative originated from Red Panda Network, an international organization for protection of Red Panda's in nature. Thanks to Zagreb Zoo, Croatia also joined this big international project.