A rare baby red panda died at the Edinburgh Zoo because of stress caused by fireworks, officials said. Sadly, the panda had lost its mother only five days back and her death was also linked to the bursting of crackers. The panda named Roxie was only three months old and died in her enclosure on Bonfire Night.
The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) sees a probable link between the panda’s death and fireworks at the city centre. The wildlife conservation charity is responsible for running the zoo.
Following Roxie and her mother Ginger’s deaths, experts from the group are calling for tighter restrictions regarding fireworks.
Ginger died in October and the charity had expressed hope at the time that Roxie would be able to survive without her mother. “[Roxie] is just about old enough that she should be able to survive at this stage without her mum. Our expert keepers will be keeping a close eye on her while she continues to grow.”
After Roxie’s death, Ben Supple, deputy chief executive at the society, said, “Roxie had recently lost her mum, Ginger, but was responding well to specialist care from our expert team and was feeding independently.
Supple expressed grief at her demise, saying that the noise of the fireworks seemed to have been too much for her.
“Very sadly, she [died] on Bonfire Night and our vets believe this was probably a reaction to fireworks. Roxie had access to her den but the frightening noises” got to her.
Experts call for ban on fireworks
Although it is not clear what caused Ginger’s death, Supple believes fireworks could have played a role.
“We know that fireworks can cause stress to other animals in the zoo and we cannot rule out that they may have contributed to the untimely death of Roxie’s mother, Ginger, just five days earlier.”
Edinburgh is the first council in Scotland to vote for a ban on the use of fireworks in some parts of the city around Bonfire Night. Officials are free to designate firework control zones after the 2022 riot in Dundee.
But Supple says the government needs to do more and has called for banning the sale of fireworks to the public.
“We support calls from animal welfare charities to ban the sale of fireworks to the public, with only light displays being permitted at organised events,” said Mr Supple.
