Fukui: Popular Red Panda Travels to Another Zoo for Breeding; Facilities Working to Protect At-Risk Species

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:02 JST, March 15, 2025

SABAE, Fukui — Love may be in the air for a female red panda named Kaede. She recently left her home at Nishiyama Zoo in Sabae, Fukui Prefecture, to “marry” another panda at a facility in Nomi, Ishikawa Prefecture.

Red pandas are classified as a threatened species on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. The Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums has established a project to breed such endangered species by lending and borrowing animals among zoos and aquariums.

Kaede’s “marriage” with a red panda at Ishikawa Zoo is part of this project. She is being housed with a male named Hinata, and the zoo plans to exhibit the couple together after Kaede grows accustomed to her new environment.

After Kaede’s transfer was announced, fans flocked to Nishiyama Zoo to say goodbye, taking pictures of the adorable animal as she moved around her enclosure and ate her food.

Nishiyama Zoo is known for raising many red pandas. Kaede was born there in June 2022.

“She’s a very active, adventurous girl. I hope she becomes a kind mother,” said Koji Nakajima, one of the Nishiyama Zoo staff involved in raising red pandas.