Baby red panda starts to explore its home at Flamingo Land

The male panda cub, who hasn't been named yet, was born in June but is just starting to spend more time out of his nest box as he grows in size and confidence.

Under the watchful eye of his mum Tai Jang, he has been exploring and climbing trees, becoming more active all the time.

James Coleman, education officer, said: "The cub was born on June 17 so at three months this is the ideal time for our guests to see him.

"As our red pandas are arboreal they do spend a lot of time snoozing up in the trees and can be hard to spot! They are most active during the hours of dusk and dawn."

Baby red panda at Flamingo Land

The red panda's wild habitats in Nepal, China, Bhutan and India are being lost due to deforestation.

Red pandas are also poached for their fur and skins as well as illegal pet trade.

There are just 10,000 adults left in the wild.

The red panda diet consists mainly of bamboo (along with fruit and insects) and this is where they get their name from.

'Panda' in the Nepalese language means 'bamboo eater' so it shares the same name and territory as the giant panda - despite not actually being related. Red pandas are more closely related to the raccoon and share a similar appearance.

James added: "Our red pandas are part of an international breeding programme so as our cub gets older we will be moving him on to another zoo so he can father cubs of his own in the future.

"As the climate in the UK is similar to that of their natural habitat they do tend to thrive in captivity in this part of the world.

"Should it get too cold like it can in the Himalayas then our red pandas can wrap their fluffy tails around their bodies like a duvet to keep them warm.

"Here at the zoo our red pandas could live up to 14 years old, whereas in the wild they tend to live for 8-10 years.

"Bai Jiao our male and Tai Jang our female are both six years old."