Dudley Zoo introduces its latest baby (From Dudley News)

Dudley Zoo introduces its latest baby

3:10pm Tuesday 16th October 2012 in News

DUDLEY Zoo keepers have introduced their newest arrival – red panda baby, Jasper.

Curatorial staff rounded up the three-month-old Tibetan red panda this morning to sex and microchip the youngster and discovered it’s a boy.

Jasper is the offspring of mum, Yasmin and dad, Yang and the third to be born at the Castle Hill site.

Older siblings Yogi and Amba have been transferred to other zoo collections as part of an international breeding programme.

Head of Media and Communications, Jill Hitchman, said: "He's so gorgeous and everyone's been guessing whether it's a boy or  girl since the baby arrived at the end of June.

"Red pandas don't venture out of their nesting box until they are 90 days old so it's very hard to be precise with birth dates as we allow mum and babe as much privacy as is possible and keepers just don't go near the box until the little one emerges."

She added: "He's been playing a cheeky game over the past week by sticking his head out of the box and then diving back in quickly whenever anyone spots him, but he's now venturing out into the paddock, although he won't stray far from mum."