Lincoln Park Zoo welcomes new red pandas

Female red panda Leafa chews on bamboo. / Lincoln Park Zoo photo

(CHICAGO) Two new red pandas are cozying up to their new digs at Lincoln Park Zoo, where officials are hoping some love in the air this Valentine’s Day weekend will make sparks fly for the endangered pair.

Leafa, a 5-year-old female, and Phoenix, a 3-year-old male, made their debut last Friday at the Kovler Lion House, according to a zoo statement.

They were brought to Chicago from the Houston Zoo as part of a red panda conservation program. Fewer than 10,000 red pandas exist in the wild, where they are found mostly in the Eastern Himalaya mountain range in China, Bhutan and Nepal, according to the World Wildlife Foundation.

The young couple haven’t produced any offspring yet, but caregivers say Phoenix “is already showing interest” in Leafa as the new breeding season begins, zoo officials said.

Animal matchmakers at the Population Management Center for Zoos and Aquarium — headquartered at Lincoln Park Zoo — have made more than 100,000 recommendations since 2000 in an effort to keep zoo populations healthy, officials said.