r/redpandas • u/Cheddar-99 • 21d ago

Red panda encounter

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Gallery image

I was able to do the red panda encounter at the Philadelphia Zoo yesterday.

Honey and Khumbie were so cute.

For the encounter, you got to do target training with them while the keeper fed them apple pieces.

Pictured is Honey.

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16

u/VQ37HR911 21d ago

I need to boop and pet the ears 😭💔🥀

9

u/Cheddar-99 21d ago

It took all my willpower not to touch her paws.

1

u/Syndahlia 12d ago edited 12d ago

What all were you allowed to do during the encounter with them? Going soon and kinda want an idea on what to expect.

2

u/Cheddar-99 12d ago

It's a new encounter, so they may change it as they work out what they want to offer.

We got to participate in a training session. We were given the target sticks. We held those up for the pandas to touch their noses to the sticks, and the keeper fed them apples.

The keeper mentioned she wanted the guests to feed the apples eventually, but since it's new, this is where they are starting.

If you haven't been to the zoo before (or in a while), there is a lot under construction right now. If you're getting there when it opens, you might want to look at doing another tour earlier in the day. We did the hog tour too, which was a lot of fun.

Have fun!