A red baby panda feeds after it was adopted by a domestic cat

A baby panda rejected by its mother has been adopted by a domestic cat which is suckling the animal along with its own young, Amsterdam's Artis zoo said Wednesday.

"The young panda is doing well in the circumstances. For it to survive, it is very important that it gets enough food and grows. We will see if this is the case over the next few weeks," the zoo said in a statement.

The animal, an endangered red panda, would need to be suckled by the cat for at least a few weeks, it said, adding that it was not unique for a wild animal to be adopted by a domestic one.

The panda and another sibling were initially accepted by their mother but a day later were found to have been abandoned. They were also suffering from hypothermia.

"A cat belonging to one of the zookeepers had just given birth and so we decided to try to get it to suckle the pandas," the statement said.

The second panda, already weak when it was placed with the cat, however, did not survive.

Red pandas, which are only slightly larger than domestic cats, are an endangered species found mostly in the eastern Himalayas. Many zoos worldwide have breeding programmes.

10 July 2008
AFP
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