Valentine's Day: Zoo organises date for endangered animals

The zoo recently gained breeding approval for red pandas

A zoo has held a Valentine's Day 'date' for its endangered red pandas to encourage them to have cubs.

Drusillas Park in Alfriston arranged red roses, paper hearts and pink bunting for Maja and Mulan as they enjoyed cake and sweet red grapes.

The zoo hoped that the pair would build a connection, which would "trigger some panda passion".

It recently gained breeding approval for the animal despite not welcoming a cub for almost a decade.

The date formed part of the zoo's daily enrichment programme, where animals are offered varied stimulus each day to encourage natural behaviours.

It was hoped that exploring something together would help build a connection

Headkeeper Gemma Romanis said: "I think a lot of people assume if an animal is endangered then we just breed as much as we can, but it's actually a very controlled and carefully-managed process to ensure genetic diversity in the population so the future of the species can be as successful as possible."

Five-year old male Maja came to Drusillas in 2019 from Sosto Zoo in Hungary and 11-year-old Mulan moved to East Sussex from Paignton in Devon when she was one.

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail].