Red panda born at Cincinnati Zoo

A red panda cub born this week at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden marks the 100th red panda birth at the zoo since its breeding program began in the early 1980s.

The cub is the first for Marcy and Zuko. The zoo posted to Facebook on Monday that the “cub and first-time mom, Marcy, are doing well and bonding behind the scenes.”

“Marcy was actually pregnant with two cubs, but only one survived. That is not uncommon for multiples, but it is still sad for the team that would otherwise be celebrating this huge milestone,” Cincinnati Zoo Zoological Manager Julie Grove said in a statement. “We are thrilled that the surviving cub is doing well and has been observed nursing.”

The milestone comes after decades of red panda conservation work at the zoo. Its Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife, or CREW, has studied red panda reproduction for years and helped advance breeding efforts. In 2015, CREW scientists became the first to accurately predict the birth dates of red panda cubs using ultrasonography and hormone monitoring, according to zoo spokesperson Michelle Curley.

Red pandas are native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China, where habitat loss, fragmentation and other threats have contributed to declining wild populations. Accredited zoos participate in breeding programs to help maintain genetically diverse populations, Curley said.

The not-yet-named cub will remain in the nest box with Marcy for the next several weeks as it grows and develops. The zoo has not announced when visitors will be able to see it.