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Edinburgh Live
Edinburgh Live
National
Claire Galloway

Watch as Edinburgh Zoo's adorable red panda baby makes first appearance outside of the den

A four-month-old red panda kit has made his debut at Edinburgh Zoo and he's every bit as adorable as you might expect.

Lucky visitors to the zoo would have caught a glimpse of the youngster, called Ruaridh, as he explored outside the den for the very first time since being born earlier this year.

Little Ruaridh spent his first few months in the den as is typical for the species but the heartwarming footage captures his tentative first steps in his enclosure.

Ruaridh was born in July to mum Ginger and dad Bruce, who had both previously come to the zoo from the Netherlands.

The team at People’s Postcode Lottery, whose players funded the red panda enclosure in 2017, named the kit Ruaridh, meaning red-haired king in gaelic.

His birth was a boost for the zoo's endangered species breeding programme, with wild red panda populations in decline, primarily due to habitat loss and poaching.

For more information about the species and the threats red pandas face in the wild on Edinburgh Zoo's website here.

You can find the trio in the enclosure behind Meerkat Plaza.

Love pets? So do we! Join our friendly Facebook group Edinburgh Loves Pets to chat with other pet lovers in the city.

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