{"id":414605,"date":"2026-07-28T01:29:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T01:29:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/414605\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T01:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T01:29:12","slug":"the-second-of-two-red-panda-cubs-born-at-a-california-zoo-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/414605\/","title":{"rendered":"The second of two red panda cubs born at a California zoo dies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"anchor-40ee50\" class=\"body-graf\">The second of two red panda cubs born at a Santa Barbara Zoo in California earlier this summer died over the weekend, the zoo said Monday.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-2d0821\" class=\"body-graf\">Another cub born to a red panda named Ruby died earlier this month, the zoo <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/santabarbarazoo\/posts\/pfbid02GciuYC2GSS84KR5JKvike6J1tDtkeZ9uWnSCz5reBk4fHkvA2dnPuue8FXGhw5oql\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">said in a statement<\/a>. That cub was found dead by zoo staff on July 21.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-d0add3\" class=\"body-graf\">Red panda cubs die at a rate of around 40%, the zoo said. The pair, born on July 2, were Ruby\u2019s first cubs. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-de18b8\" class=\"body-graf\">The second cub had been \u201creceiving around-the-clock care from our veterinary and animal care teams,\u201d the zoo said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-401f58\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cWhile the cause of death remains under investigation, this loss is heartbreaking for everyone who cared for these cubs and for all who have followed their journey,\u201d the zoo said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/260727-RubyAndCubsInNestBox-vsb-2021-6e83e9.jpg\" alt=\"Red pandas Ruby and cubs in their nest box.\" height=\"1665\" width=\"2500\"\/>Red pandas Ruby and cubs in their nest box at Santa Barbara Zoo in California. Will Huebner \/ Santa Barbara Zoo<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-78a67a\" class=\"body-graf\">The zoo had taken that cub from Ruby on July 19 after staff noticed it was not nursing properly, the zoo said. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/260727-RedPandaCubBW-vsb-2022-98d95c.jpg\" alt=\"A black and white photograph of a red panda cub resting at Santa Barbara Zoo.\" height=\"1667\" width=\"2500\"\/>Red panda cub at Santa Barbara Zoo in California.Will Huebner \/ Santa Barbara Zoo<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-48a35e\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cHe remained in critical condition in a temperature-controlled incubator while receiving tube and bottle feedings, antibiotics and continuous veterinary monitoring,\u201d the zoo said.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-eaaaec\" class=\"body-graf\">The cubs were born to the red pandas Ruby and Raj, and the next breeding opportunity won\u2019t be until next year because its seasonal, the zoo said.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/260727-RedPanda0625264RubyRightRajLeft-vsb-2024-82a9ac.jpg\" alt=\"Red pandas Ruby, right and Raj, left \" height=\"1667\" width=\"2500\"\/>Red pandas Ruby, right and Raj, left at the Santa Barbara Zoo in California.Will Huebner \/ Santa Barbara Zoo<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-6ef508\" class=\"body-graf\">Red pandas, which are a little larger than a house cat, are considered endangered, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldwildlife.org\/species\/red-panda\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">according to the World Wildlife Fund<\/a>. Over half of their territory in the eastern Himalayas and one reason for their endangered status is the loss of forests and other habitat, the organization says. They also get killed in traps meant for other animals. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-e7c5a2\" class=\"endmark body-graf\">Fewer than 10,000 mature red pandas are estimated to remain in the wild, according to the zoo.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The second of two red panda cubs born at a Santa Barbara Zoo in California earlier this summer&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414606,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-414605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414605"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414605\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}