Lake Superior Zoo welcomes a new Red Panda

DULUTH, Minn. – The Lake Superior Zoo is welcoming Wiley, a male red panda.

He was born on June 19, 2024, at Michigan’s Potter Park Zoo.

Wiley arrived in Duluth at the end of May and made his public debut on July 2 after a brief quarantine period and time to acclimate to his new surroundings.

Wiley, Male Red Panda

(Lake Superior Zoo)

The zoo has waited to publicly announce Wiley’s arrival to ensure he was comfortable and visible to guests.

Wiley now shares his habitat with Zoozee, the zoo’s long-time resident female red panda.

The zoo says the two were introduced “with minimal issues—aside from a few small disputes over grapes, their absolute favorite snack”.

Guests can tell them apart by looking for Wiley’s more orange-toned forehead.

Red pandas are naturally solitary animals in the wild, so Wiley and Zoozee mostly keep to themselves.

Red pandas are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and their wild population is currently decreasing.

Wiley, Male Red Panda

(Lake Superior Zoo)