PROVIDENCE – Though Roger Williams Park Zoo has hosted red pandas since at least the mid-1990s, it wasn't until recently that the zoo could breed the endangered animals.
That shifted with a $2.5 million appropriation from the city of Providence in 2022, which allowed the zoo to open an upgraded habitat for the animals in March 2024.
The habitat's climate control capabilities also let guests see the animals more often year-round. Red pandas, which are native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China, prefer a cooler climate and would often hide away from the heat during summer months.
All in all, it's a welcome change for the zoo, visitors and conservation, said Stacey Johnson, the zoo's executive director. The zoo doesn't track visitors to individual exhibits, he noted, but the red pandas have always been a popular attraction – as well as the inspiration for the zoo's mascot, "Roger the Red Panda" – even when they were harder to spot.
“This is an animal that eats bamboo and sleeps a good amount of the day ... but there’s something about the look and behavior of them,” Johnson said. “The guests love them.”
The new kits, which were born on July 4 to parents Zan and Kendji, are so far elusive – even Johnson has yet to see them himself.
“Mom is pretty shy and pretty protective," he said. But the zoo will set a date to officially introduce the kits to the public, and will eventually announce their names as well.
The kits also signal a step forward in its the zoos species survival plan. An endangered species, just 10,000 red pandas are estimated to remain in the wild.
As the zoo welcomes its new arrivals, it prepares to lose three of its long-term, well-loved residents, African elephants Alice, Ginny and Kate. The elephants, who arrived at the zoo in 1990 and turned 40 later this summer, will move to a new home in 2027, which Johnson has said will allow them to receive proper care and socialization in their advanced age.
The zoo also counts its giraffes, moon bear, snow leopards and goats among its best-loved animals, Johnson said. Overall, the zoo is home to 600 animals across 125 species, not counting its insects.
Amid shifts, zoo attendance and programming have surged in recent years: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the zoo typically attracted around 650,000 visitors annually. But after shutdown measures lifted, attendance hit a record-high of 800,000 in 2021 and increased to 820,000 visitors in 2022. Additionally, more than half of the zoo's guests over the past few years have traveled from out of state in recent years.
Attendance remained historically high in 2023 and has since leveled off, Johnson said, “but I think we’ve captured some new audience members, and we want to look toward maintaining that."
Meanwhile, the zoo is working to add new infrastructure funded by a $12 million earmark that state voters approved under a 2022 green economy bond. Those projects, a new education center and an event pavilion, are set to open next year.
A 2022 economic impact study found that the zoo generates more than $5 million for the state, Johnson added.
“We’re holding in that area, so that makes us feel good that we not only provide a wonderful experience to our guests,” he said. “We’re also helping to build the economy in Rhode Island.”
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
