Get Up Close Now To Super Cute Red Pandas In Central New York

Your chance to get up close to the Red Pandas at the Utica Zoo is back.

Go behind-the-scenes and get up close to the Utica Zoo's Red Pandas, Mei Lin and Khairo. You'll be able to feed them their favorite treats and learn about the red panda conservation status.

Please note that this is our most popular Animal Experience and will book fast. Dates are opened a few months at a time – check back regularly for openings!"

This experience starts ay $250, and is up to 4 people. It lasts around a half hour. You can book online here. During the encounter, Zookeepers will provide you with all the Red Panda information you could ever need, all while you get the chance to feed them grapes, biscuits, and bamboo leaves. Unfortunately, you won't get to pet, or hold them.

Red pandas are small, arboreal mammals native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. Slightly larger than domestic cats, they have dense reddish-brown fur, black bellies and limbs, and distinctive white markings on their faces. Despite their name, red pandas are not closely related to giant pandas; instead, they belong to their own unique family, Ailuridae. These solitary animals are primarily nocturnal and crepuscular, feeding mainly on bamboo, but also consuming fruits and blossoms. Red pandas are classified as Endangered due to habitat loss and fragmentation, with fewer than 2,500 individuals remaining in the wild.

The Utica Zoo also offers other animal encounters including White-Handed Gibbon Encounters, African Painted Dogs Encounters, Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra Encounters, Bactrian Camel Encounters, Nigerian Dwarf Goat Encounters, and the Ambassador Animal Experience. You can book your next adventure online here.