World Red Panda Day: let’s save them and vote for a name for the latest baby born at Beauval!

Our red panda cub finally has a name! Thanks to you, she’s now called Kyra. A huge thank you to everyone for taking part and for your enthusiasm!

At the ZooParc de Beauval, you can see Ines, our 8-year-old female, who lives in the Heights of China enclosure. She doesn’t live there alone: Browny, our male who is also 8 years old, keeps her company, and together they’ve already had seven cubs. And speaking of which, you’ll have the chance to meet the latest arrival during your visit. A little female cub born on 6 July, who represents a precious ray of hope for the conservation of this endangered species.

To mark this World Red Panda Day, we’re inviting you to vote on our social media channels (Facebook and Instagram) to choose her name from five suggestions put forward by the animal keepers in the Pandas/Koalas section:

• Souka
• Malana
• Darsha
• Kyra
• Haru

You have until 25 September at 11.59 pm to cast your vote. The winning name will be announced on 26 September.

The red panda… a cousin of the giant panda?

To mark World Red Panda Day, we’d also like to invite you to (re)discover this fascinating species with its unique classification, the threats it faces and the measures put in place to protect it. Although the red panda and the giant panda share the same name, they are not from the same family! Certain similarities between these two species have long led people to believe they were very closely related: their shared love of bamboo, the presence of an opposable ‘sixth finger’ that allows them to grasp it, and their neighbouring geographical ranges.

However, the classification of the red panda has long been a subject of debate: due to their morphological similarities, it was initially associated with raccoons and coatis, within the Procyonidae family. Subsequently, due to certain similarities in their DNA, it was classified within the Ursidae family, which includes the eight species of bear, including the giant panda. Today, new research in molecular genetics has confirmed that the red panda is the sole member of its own family, the Ailuridae.

Find out more about the red panda

Ines, a female red panda at the ZooParc de Beauval

A species that is, sadly, under threat

Whilst the red panda charms with its flamboyant coat and agility in the trees, it is nonetheless under threat. Indeed, the low survival rate of its young and its highly specialised diet make it very vulnerable to any changes in its environment. Furthermore, protected areas cover only a third of its range and populations continue to decline.
Deforestation is the greatest threat to the red panda. By fragmenting its territory, it isolates populations, thereby increasing the risk of inbreeding. Added to this is hunting, driven by the demand for their fur, certain body parts or their meat.

Protecting the red panda

The Red Panda Network, the first NGO dedicated to the protection of the red panda, is behind the conservation programme for this species. Supported by our organisation, Beauval Nature, it runs an anti-poaching monitoring programme, helps to reforest the red panda’s habitat and raises awareness amongst thousands of people living within its range in Nepal.

Furthermore, since 2020, Beauval Nature has been sponsoring Bimala Moktan, one of the programme’s few female forest rangers, by covering her full salary. In 2024, she carried out several key missions for the conservation of the species:

• studying red pandas and their habitat, both through direct observation and by analysing faeces: traces of the animals were found at 25 sites in the Jaljale forest.
• taking part in anti-poaching patrols: alongside 13 other forest rangers, she covered 36 km across 10 different community forests and disabled 19 traps.
• Undergo further training on GPS settings, monitoring techniques, field data collection, the use of camera traps, planting, and much more.

If you too would like to get involved in the conservation of this adorable species, you can support our organisation, Beauval Nature, by making a donation or by sponsoring Ines, the female red panda at ZooParc de Beauval!
Each sponsorship takes the form of a donation, 66 per cent of which is tax-deductible, and is channelled into Beauval Nature’s biodiversity conservation programmes. In return, you’ll enjoy a range of benefits: a newsletter, merchandise, wallpapers, educational resources, photos… and even access to guided tours, a free admission ticket or a free ZooPass!