Red panda dies at Atascadero Zoo

March 3, 2014

Atascadero Zoo workers found a young red panda curled up in a ball Saturday morning. It was dead. [Tribune]

“It doesn’t have any wounds or show an obvious cause of death and appears to have just expired in its sleep,” said zoo director Alan Baker.

The red panda was born at the Charles Paddock Zoo in June 2013 and was seemingly healthy until its sudden death. Three other red pandas remain alive at the zoo.

In 2011, the Zoo received a $100,000 gift to open a red panda exhibit. The panda that died was one of twin offspring from an adult male and adult female which were acquired in 2011.

Red pandas are raccoon-sized mammals with red fur and long bushy tails. They come from the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China.