Red Panda Joy at March Snow

The weather may be driving us a bit mad at the moment, but the Red Pandas at the Aspinall Foundation Port Lympne Animal are jumping for joy! This has been said to be the some of the worst weather in the UK for 25 years, with snow in March being a real rarity. But this freak weather occurrence may have had us shivering into our duvets, but the snow that blanketed the country made the beautiful Red Pandas feel right at home in Kent.

The weather was so bad, officials even decided to close the park as the walkways had become too hazardous. In March! You really couldn’t make up this weather at the moment. Red pandas are amazingly cute, and usually live in the snow covered mountains of the Himalayas, not Kent. They reside mostly in Northern Myanmar, Sichuan and the Yunnan Provinces in China, and are at risk of extinction due to being hunted for their fur and habitat loss.

Animal Manager, Simon Jeffrey, said –

All of the animals here at Port Lympne have access to heated indoor enclosures or shelters thickly bedded with straw, where appropriate, with additional nutritious feeds providing the extra central heating that the animals may require.  Despite the provision of warm, snug beds some of the animals just prefer to be out enjoying the snow!

As many animals looked to find shelter, the park’s two Red Pandas were straight out into the sub zero temperatures like it was the return of an old friend. At least somebody is enjoying the Spring snow, because we certainly aren’t!

You can now adopt a beautiful Red Panda through our dedicated Aspinall Foundation page, with your small monthly donation going a long way to helping these amazing creatures fight the spectre of endangerment.