This Christmas, a gift for Darjeeling from Rotterdam: Two red pandas, named Vishal and Koshi

The aim, officials say, is to enhance genetic diversity in the most successful breeding programme in the country.

“Received two male red pandas from Rotterdam Zoo, Netherlands, for conservation breeding purposes. This is our first red panda acquisition from a foreign zoo in nearly a decade. Both are two-and-a-half years old. They will be put in quarantine for a month and then paired together,” Saurabh Chaudhury, member secretary, West Bengal Zoo authority, said in a statement.

A flight carrying the two animals landed at Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport last night.

The red panda (Ailurus fulgens), also known as the lesser panda, is a small mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. After the animals reach the zoo, vets will conduct a thorough health check-up.

Officials say quarantining the animals for a month will help them acclimatise to their new habitat. Then, they will be paired.

“We are thankful to Rotterdam Zoo for gifting us the two red pandas. They will be named Vishal and Koshi,” Basavraj S Holeyachi, director of the zoo, told The Indian Express.

“The animals hold immense significance in the conservation breeding programme here. By introducing a new bloodline, the genetic pool of red pandas will be strengthened and diversified. It is for long-term benefit,” Holeyachi said.

At the moment, the zoo has seven male and 12 female red pandas, and two cubs. The sex of the cubs is yet to be determined by the zoo authorities.

Established in 1958, PMZP hosts the country’s most successful conservative breeding programme for red pandas, which are listed as endangered in the list of the International Union For Conservation of Nature. According to the World Wildlife Fund, their population is less than 10,000.

The planned conservation breeding programme began in 1986 as a part of the Global Captive Breeding Masterplan. At the beginning of the program, in 1990, Darjeeling Zoo had one male and three female red pandas of wild origin.