My Clandestine Visit With a Goregous Fiery Red Head
My wife is my favorite redhead, but I have a confession to make; yesterday I left my chiropractic clinic earlier than usual, and without telling my wife, I went to see another gorgeous redhead. Well, actually, the color is more reddish-brown, and its not hair, but fur, but a gorgeous little face was definitely involved.
As many of you already know, our own Taronga Zoo, has had many panda births since 1977. And, yesterday, its youngest red panda (born just two weeks before Christmas) made his “world debut.” His name is Seba, which is the Nepalese word for reward. What you may not know is that Taronga has the best breeding record in the southern hemisphere.
It is not unusual for red pandas to spend the first couple of months of the post-birth life nestled inside nest boxes before we, visitors, get a glimpse of them. But I must tell you that Seba didn’t appear to be shy. In fact, Zoo Keeper Deborah Price said that he has “attitude” and can be “very stand-offish.” She said that this attitude is fantastic because Seba is acting just like a wild Red Panda cub would.
My clandestine visit to see Seba was worth it, and in fact, I am taking my wife to see him this weekend. Red pandas are threatened in their natural habitat across the Himalayan mountains and foothills of northern India, China, Nepal, India and Bhutan due to illegal hunting and deforestation of their natural habitat.