Seattle zoo to debut twin red panda cubs

SEATTLE — Visitors to the Woodland Park Zoo will soon be able to view the first successful birth of red pandas there in nearly three decades.

The zoo plans to introduce twin red panda cubs at a public outdoor exhibit opening Nov. 23.

Sisters Zeya (ZAY-uh) and Ila (EE-la) have been living in an indoor, climate-controlled area with their mom Hazel since they were born in June.

Zoo officials say the cubs have been climbing trees, hanging out in a high hammock and developing other motor skills.

Red pandas are endangered, and fewer than 10,000 remain in the bamboo forests of China, the Himalayas and Myanmar.

Hazel was brought to the zoo two years ago as part of a conservation breeding program.