Hi

Hey , it’s Shifu ‘the Red Panda’ here.

Thanks so much for the amazing letter you wrote me and for saying you think I am ‘‘.

It makes me so happy knowing you are thinking about me and that I can say I now have a brand new friend called . So you can find out a little more about me, I have included some really cool fun facts at the bottom of this message.

I hope you’re having a great day in , spending lots of time with your family and loved ones. I wonder if you are coming up with lots of games to play like I am? I love games!

Today we decided to play hide-n-seek and the funniest thing ever happened. So my twin brother ‘Makalu’ started running off to hide and decided to try and jump a really long way from one tree to another. When he landed though a stick poked him in the bottom hehehehehehehe….I seriously couldn’t stop laughing, and neither could he.

I am so lucky being a twin as I always have my best friend with me wherever I go. Our favourite thing in this whole world is playing games, but we also love a delicious treat of Bamboo. Yummy! I think Bamboo must be a bit like what the Zookeepers say about Vegemite is like. That you either love it or dislike it, as I don’t see my neighbours the Pygmy Marmosets, Kangaroos, Meerkats or Lemurs eating bamboo, and all I see the Koalas eating is some funny look leaf I heard them call ‘Eucalyptus’.

Tonight when I look up to the night sky and see the first shooting star I will be sure to make a wish that you have the most amazing week.

Over the coming months my wonderful Zookeepers will be making heaps of fun videos, have some really cool competitions and my favourite – lots of games you can play. They said everything will be posted onto our Facebook Page and they are even going to be doing live videos so you can ask questions, watch me play and being fed and learn all about my friends and I.

Stay safe. Sending all my love from here at Symbio Wildlife Park

Shifu ‘the Red Panda’ xoxoxox

Visit our Facebook page to find some really fun videos of my friends and I.
Our Facebook Page

Red Panda Fun Facts

I eat around 20,000 bamboo leaves in a day.
I have retractable claws similar to the giant panda.
I use my tail to keep warm at night by wrapping it around myself like a blanket.
My big tail is great at helping with my balance as well.
Like you I like to sleep at night and have the most energy during the day time.
My voice sounds a bit like a bird but I can make other sounds and I also use body language to communicate.
When we are born we are blind, our ears are closed and body covered with gray fur.
When I was a baby I got to stay with my mother until the next breeding season as I was right to fend for myself after that.
In the wild I can live up to 8 years, but here at Symbio I can live up to 14 years – I am really happy about that.
With our species it is only the mother Panda who takes care of the cubs.
My favourite food is bamboo, but I also eat fruit, roots, eggs and small insects.
When us boys fight we stand on our hind legs and box with our claws.
Did you know we can find different scents red pandas using our tongues and can tell each other apart by our smell?
We are called arboreal animals because we are usually seen relaxing in trees
To keep my body warm I sometimes roll myself into a ball, with my head tucked beneath my chest and nose pushed between my hind paws.
If I were living in the wild I would be found in Eastern Himalayas and Southwestern China.
Every one thinks I am related to the giant panda because of my name, however I am not related to them at all.

Click on the video below to watch my adorable home video.

https://www.facebook.com/symbiozoo/videos/182240643214137/