The Denver Zoo got a whole lot cuddlier with the birth of two red pandas on June 6.
The female cubs, Lali and Masu, are settled in to a nesting box and being cared for by their mother, Faith.
Zoo guests may see the mother bring the cubs outside the nesting box but only on rare occasions.
The cubs will remain mostly behind the scenes until September. When they’re more developed they will join their father Hamlet in the red panda exhibit.
Zookeepers diagnosed the cubs with pneumonia early on and started them on daily tube feedings, antibiotics and fluids.
They slowly began gaining weight and recovering, and the zoo says they are off of treatment and doing well on their own.
They began opening their eyes but sleep most of the day and night like normal newborns.
This is both parent’s first litter. Faith, mother, was born in June 2014 and Hamlet, father, was born July 2013.
Red pandas are native to Asia and commonly found in Nepal, India, Bhutan, Myanmar and China. Like giant pandas, red pandas eat a large amount of bamboo daily.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classifies red pandas as an endangered species.
