By ROD KING

For Northwest News

Red Panda Ridge awaits visitors to Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo. The habitat area opened to enthusiastic zoo members May 26 and to the public May 27.

Lines of parents and grandparents pushed strollers and pulled wagons loaded with children up the switchback ramp behind the North American river otter exhibit to the highest point in the zoo to see a number of exotic Asian birds, a Chinese muntjac (tiny deer) and the stars of the show — red pandas.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony May 26, Zoo Director Rick Schuiteman said, “We’re excited for guests to say hello to three-year zoo veteran Ann and her new red panda friends Aurora and Paula. This exhibit is the first addition to the reimagined Asian Trek area. In addition to the red pandas, it’s home to Zoji, a tiny Chinese muntjac deer, Gretel, a white-eared pheasant, a couple of Victoria crowned pigeons named Penn and Teller, and a pair of red-billed blue magpies called Jingwei and Dallas.”

“This habitat is one of the largest for red pandas among U.S. zoos,” he said. “These new additions and reimagined spaces couldn’t happen without the support of our community, our members and especially our generous donors. We are one of only eight self-supporting zoos in the country.”

“The habitat has been in the works for the past six years. COVID-19, of course, interrupted the project for a couple of years,” Schuiteman said. “MSKTD and Steve Perry Creations began work on the design in 2022 and Hagerman Construction moved the dirt and built the exhibit buildings. A bamboo maze was included to amuse the children. The area, which was mostly wooded, previously had a number of exotic birds on display.”

The pandas didn’t disappoint zoo visitors on their first day in their new digs. The pandas could be seen devouring large sprigs of bamboo leaves — their primary food source — and scampering nimbly along log poles the length of their habitats. Two species are on display. One is Chinese and the other is Himalayan. Both are quite red, have long bushy ringed tails and are distant relatives to raccoons.

The Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo, which is northeast Indiana’s largest tourist attraction hosting more than 600,000 guests annually, was voted Indiana’s Summer Bucket List Top Attraction in 2021. It’s consistently named one of the nation’s top 10 zoos for children. Hours are 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily at 3411 Sherman Blvd.

Visit https://kidszoo.org for admission rates and details of exhibits and events.