Two-month-old Red Panda cub Maiya (“little girl” in Nepali) is making a remarkable recovery at Australian Taronga Zoo. According to the zoo the female cub suffered from a neck injury while being carried by her mother Amala.
These kind of wounds aren’t unusual in the first weeks when the mother has to carry the cubs by the scruff of the neck.
24/7 care saved her life
After Maiya spent the first five weeks with her mother, the zoo staff had to intervene for health reasons. The young Red Panda now receives 24/7 care by Taronga keeper Tamara Gilles. “She’s definitely a little survivor”, says Tamara who gives Maiya regular bottle feeds. “She’s guzzling down her milk formular, she’s gaining weight every day and the wound on her neck has almost completely healed.”
New friend
Maybe Maiyas new little friend also helped her a little bit. It’s a soft toy Red Panda which she loves to cuddle.
Back to the parents
Maiya’s parents Amala and father Pabu can see and smell her each morning in Taronga’s Red Panda exhibit. Over the next months the keepers are trying to reintegrate Maiya with her parents.
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Check out Taronga Zoo’s website for more information.