September 22nd 2024

The Cape May County Park & Zoo welcomed a new red panda Monday.

Aurora is a 5-year-old from the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo in Indiana.

"She is very curious and sweet and loves training and interacting with her keepers. She is also quite the acrobat and can be spotted climbing upside down and sideways all over the yard," the zoo said Tuesday in a statement.

But since Aurora does not get along with David Bowie, the zoo's other red panda that arrived at the property in 2021, the two won't be seen together until integration is successful.  Don't worry, though, this is completely normal.  It often requires many weeks to integrate wild animals!  

(Search All Cape May County Homes Here!)

The two red pandas will alternate use of their yard until the zoo's carpenters add a second yard onto the den, which is supposed to happen soon, the zoo said in the post. 

In March of 2024, fellow red panda Luna, the oldest in North America and star of the Cape May County Zoo, died at 22 years old.  This is why a new female was introduced.  Aurora and David Bowie should delight thousands over the coming years.  The Cape May County Zoo is ZAA and AZA accredited, making it among the best zoos in the world!

("Queen Luna who died in March 2024, was the oldest of her kind in North America)