Red Panda Weekend! Continued!
On a Saturday in November 2021, we spent the entire day at the Columbus Zoo! We got there right when they opened up at 10 am. The temperature was in the 30s and 40s — so it was cold all day, but we were able to warm up in some of the buildings. A lot of the animals were not on display because of the cold weather, so we could not see any of the African animals. And some of the exhibits were not open because they were not staffed. I imagine they don’t fully staff the zoo when it’s in the low tourist season. But we still had fun! We were able to see the reptiles and the aquarium! The gorillas had an indoor viewing area, as did some birds and some nocturnal animals from Australia.
The red panda experience was in the afternoon, and it was amazing!! I had so much fun! We even got to go inside their enclosure! There were 3 red pandas, and we were each given a Tupperware of some treats (they looked like dog treats). We could then feed the red pandas! We had to bend at our hips to give them the treats. If we bent our knees, then they would be tempted to climb us like a tree! The zookeeper did not want them climbing us; plus, they have sharp claws! I fed Bandit, the male red panda cub. David fed both Bandit and Santi, the female cub. Neither of us fed their mother, Kora. Bandit and Santi both stepped on David’s shoes!
After we fed them, we got to take some photos with them! When we were crouched down, the zookeeper had the red pandas get on a rock behind us. Well, one of them liked David and put her paw on his shoulder, and then she tried to take off his hat! David confirmed that their claws really are sharp! He did not get hurt, but his hat did fall off! We could not pet them, so that was a bit disappointing, but I completely understand. The red pandas only prefer being touched by the zookeepers. The zookeeper said the red pandas had fur that felt like a Siberian Husky dog. We also needed to watch our step so we didn’t accidentally step on one of the red pandas’ tails. The zookeeper talked to us about the red pandas too. And then all of a sudden, the experience was done in the blink of an eye!
There was one other couple in there with us. Afterwards, we went around to the viewing area with the rest of the public, and then the zookeepers gave the red pandas their own Thanksgiving feast! They set up a small kid’s table with two chairs and a stump with a Thanksgiving tablecloth and some decorative turkeys. They were able to get the red pandas to sit on the chairs, and then they put out bowls with some food! It was so cute! They took photos for the zoo’s social media pages.
I absolutely loved my experience! I definitely recommend doing it if you are a red panda lover! You do need to book several months in advance though. If you like other animals, you could see if the zoo near you has other types of animal experiences. I would be interested in doing a different animal experience in the future, but I will probably do another red panda experience since I love them so much!
*I was not compensated for the reviews of any of the businesses mentioned in this blog post.