Sequoia Park Zoo seeks bamboo donations for red panda Saffron

Sequoia Park Zoo asked Humboldt County residents with bamboo in their yards and gardens to bring fresh, organic stalks for Saffron, the zoo’s red panda, and other animals that depend on the plant. The zoo said donations needed to be at least three feet long and still carrying leaves, and they were accepted Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the ticket booth or front gate, subject to staff approval.

The need was practical as well as immediate. The zoo said it maintains more than 100 bamboo plants on the grounds, but red pandas can eat several pounds of bamboo every day. Outside donations help give those plants time to recover and regrow, while also increasing the variety of bamboo species available to the animals. The zoo has also described the donations as a way to recycle usable green waste.

Saffron’s diet reaches beyond bamboo. During care and training sessions, the zoo said Saffron and the other red pandas also enjoy red grapes, pears and pieces of sweet apples. The species is well suited to Eureka’s cool, foggy climate, with red pandas spending much of their time in trees and using their tails for balance. The zoo said their specialized claws and wrist bones help them climb and grip bamboo.

The bamboo request also fits into a longer run of work around the red panda habitat. Saffron had started transitioning into a newly renovated Red Panda Habitat after the zoo launched a Red Panda Improvement Project that included major enclosure renovations. The project drew support from the Christine & Jalmer Berg Foundation, Tyger Tea and Coast Central Credit Union, and the zoo was awaiting a recommendation from the Red Panda Species Survival Plan about a female companion for Saffron.

For a zoo founded in 1907 and long recognized as one of California’s smallest accredited zoos, the donation drive turned a backyard plant into a direct contribution to daily animal care. In Eureka, a few leafy bamboo stalks at the front gate could help keep Saffron fed while the zoo’s own stands grow back.