When red pandas Keahi and Rocket were first brought together to breed at a National Zoo facility in Virginia, zookeeper Jessica Kordell said it didn’t seem like they were going to be interested in each other, but then they mated.

Officials said two new red pandas were born June 22 at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, but one of the cubs died a few days after birth. Keepers say that the surviving cub has not yet been given a name but it is “doing great.”

Kordell said in an interview on the Rossifari Podcast that she has “not gotten her hands on the cub” yet because first-time mom Keahi has been caring for it.

“We’re keeping our hands off and letting her do her job without us interfering,” Kordell told podcast host Jon Rossi. She said she be

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