Marwell Zoo: Hampshire zoo bids tearful farewell to their last red panda today

Mei Mei, who was nine years old, started to show signs of illness last week and vets made the very difficult decision to euthanase her following further signs of discomfort.

Born at Welsh Mountain Zoo in 2013, Mei Mei arrived at Marwell in 2014 and she has been a favourite amongst guests young and old thanks to her endearing looks and personality.

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A spokesman for Marwell said: ‘This sad news follows the unrelated death of her male companion, Peter, in October last year. They will both be very sadly missed by everyone at Marwell.

‘As a result, Marwell is temporarily without red pandas but we fully intend to bring this species back into the park as soon as possible after the current movement restrictions, placed upon us as a result of the recent Avian Influenza outbreak, are lifted.’

They are expecting a decision on this in the next few weeks.