A baby red panda born at a southern New South Wales wildlife park is being hailed as a win for a species known for having a difficult breeding process. 

The animal was born at Altina Wildlife Park, west of Wagga Wagga, and zookeepers say it is the first born in Australia for two years.

Animal and operations manager Rebecca Surian said the pandas could be easily disturbed during the mating process, making them difficult to breed, so the recent arrival of their “bundle of fluff” was particularly thrilling.

“We’re just unbelievably excited with our newest baby … we’ve never bred panda before. We’ve only had [them] for a year now,” she said.

“He’s got lots of attitude already.

First-time panda mum Rani gave birth at nine years old to the as-yet-unnamed cub, a massive boon for the endangered species.

There are about 50 red pandas in Australia, but Ms Surian said none had successfully given birth in the past two years.

“That’s really scary if we’re trying to conserve a species if multiple zoos are having trouble breeding,” she said.

“Fingers crossed, our little boy can move forward and help that conservation either here or overseas.”

Something in the water

A small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and south-western China, red pandas are considered fully grown between 18 and 24 months and live on average up to 10 years in the wild.

They can live as long as 23 years but currently are “in trouble” with less than 10,000 left, Ms Surian said.

The new arrival comes hot on the heels of the birth of another at-risk species at the wildlife park, with a set of black-and-white ruffed lemur triplets born late last year, adding numbers to Altina’s huge conservation efforts.

Ms Surian said the success of the zoo’s breeding program was as simple as letting nature take its course.

“We don’t interfere unless absolutely necessary … just letting them do what comes naturally,” she said.