Hertfordshire Zoo has welcomed a young female red panda as part of a breeding programme to try to boost numbers of the endangered species.
Nila, who is 17 months old, was born in Slovakia and has been brought to the UK to be paired with the zoo’s resident male, Ash.
There are fewer than 10,000 red pandas left in the wild as they are threatened with rapid habitat loss from deforestation in the eastern Himalayas, and the poaching trade.
The zoo successfully bred a cub in 2022 with a different pair of red pandas.