Surprise! Cincinnati Zoo welcomes unexpected baby red panda born earlier this month

Emily DeLetter
Cincinnati Enquirer

After a miracle, the red panda population at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden has just grown by one. 

Scientists at the zoo's Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife discovered in April that Lin the red panda was pregnant, but she lost the first pregnancy in May. 

Red pandas usually breed in the late winter and give birth in the summer. They have a shorter window of fertility compared to other animals, so researchers assumed Lin would not give birth this year. After she lost her first pregnancy, her later weight gain was initially attributed to her diet of cicadas and mulberries. 

But, to everyone's surprise, the zoo announced Friday that Lin gave birth July 16 to a healthy baby red panda. 

The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden welcomed a newborn red panda July 16.

“To my knowledge, Lin is the first documented case of a red panda losing her pregnancy and then having another embryo come along and implant in the same year,” Dr. Erin Curry, a reproductive physiologist at Cincinnati Zoo’s CREW, said in a release. 

For now, Lin and the baby, whose name and gender have not yet been released, are spending most of their time inside the nest box. They have access to the rest of their habitat, but the zoo said the baby will most likely stay inside for at least two more months. 

Red pandas are officially listed as an endangered species on the IUCN's red list of threatened species, due to illegal trade and poaching, habitat loss and degradation, natural disasters and other factors. 

More cuteness:Family asks Cincinnati Zoo to name expected baby sloth in memory of their sloth-loving son