KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Some cute, furry faces from the Scruffy City, are moving to the Peach State. Zoo Knoxville and Zoo Atlanta swapped some red pandas this week.
According to Zoo Atlanta, two red pandas from Zoo Knoxville, Ruby and Rose, got to Georgia on Thursday.
In exchange for the 2-year-old sisters, Zoo Knoxville is getting a 5-year-old boy red panda from Atlanta named Jackie.
The zoo says Jackie has lived in Atlanta since 2020.
The Association of Zoos and Aquariums recommended the switch, as part of the Red Panda Species Survival Plan. Red pandas are on the endangered list.
This is the second time Ruby and Rose have gotten a new home. Zoo Knoxville got them, and their other sibling, Willow, at the end of 2021 from John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The relocation the first time was also part of the SSP. Ruby, Rose and Willow are triplets.
According to a post from Zoo Atlanta, "Collaborative programs like SSPs work to ensure the long-term viability of animal populations in accredited zoos, and recommendations can result in transfers between AZA zoos, both for the needs of individual animals and for the benefit of the population at large."
Zoo Knoxville is known as the "Red Panda Capital of the World." According to the zoo's website, more red pandas have been born there than at any other zoo in the world.
Right now, Ruby and Rose are in a routine quarantine period in Atlanta behind the scenes. They will have a chance to explore their new home in Zoo Atlanta's Asian Forest in "the coming weeks," according to the zoo.
