A Pair of Rare Adorable Nepalese Red Panda Twins Born at the Auckland Zoo in New Zealand

A pair of rare twin Nepalese red panda cubs were born on January 3, 2014 at the Auckland Zoo in New Zealand. Aside from being insanely adorable creatures, these cubs represent hope for a threatened species due to loss of their native habitat and illegal poaching.

The Auckland Zoo has welcomed the birth of Nepalese red panda twins; two very valuable additions to the international breeding programme for this threatened species whose population continues to decline in the wild…Increasingly, we’re part of conservation efforts in the wild. Auckland Zoo continues to grow its support of Red Panda Network, whose outstanding community education and forest guardianship programmes in eastern Nepal (key red panda territory) are playing a vital role in helping protect this species that’s threatened by habitat loss and poaching.

Have we mentioned that they’re really, really cute?

Red Panda twins at Aukland Zoo

Red Panda Cub at Aukland Zoo

Nepalese Red Panda in Bowl

Red Panda Twins

images via Auckland Zoo, ZooBorns

via ZooBorns

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.