Red pandas to get spacious new home at Atascadero zoo

A new red panda exhibit at Atascadero’s Charles Paddock Zoo is expected to be complete by the fall, marking the zoo’s first new exhibit to be built from scratch in nearly four decades. 

While the zoo has made upgrades in recent years, such as a new flamingo area by its entrance, they have been renovations of existing spaces.

Red pandas are raccoon-sized arboreal mammals with rich cinnamon-red fur from the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China, where their populations have been in decline. 

The new panda exhibit, to be built north of the tiger area in a space previously used for birthday parties and special events, will have three viewing area platforms, a natural habitat area and a new enclosure with a green roof, according to the city.

It will be designed with several species of bamboo — a staple of the red panda diet — and similar plant life to create a sheltered feel for visitors.

“The idea is to create a densely planted area so that once you are in the exhibit you can’t see the rest of the zoo,” said project architect Thom Jess of Arris Studio Architects in San Luis Obispo. There will 

also be a series of elevated walkways and ramps with wood, stone walls and decorative light fixtures, Jess said. 

The versatile exhibit can be used in the evening for private parties, he added.

Its design will kick off the zoo’s new “biodiversity hotspot” blueprint, according to a news release, to create “an immersive and interactive journey with both passive and dynamic features to educate visitors about the culture, plant life, extinction or other threats to each animal.”

Since 2009, the zoo has had two adult red pandas, a male and a female. Last summer, two female cubs were born and remain on exhibit with their parents. Zoo officials said young red pandas grow relatively slowly and bond with their mothers for more than a year. 

The births followed the deaths of two male cubs from the same parents earlier last year from what tests determined were seemingly different ailments. 

The new exhibit will be funded by the estate of the late Thelma Vetter, a longtime Atascadero resident, community volunteer and animal lover who died in 2009.

“She wanted to remain anonymous. However, it was such a large contribution and because she loved the animals so much, the estate decided to give her recognition,” city planner Alfredo Castillo said.

Vetter’s original contribution for the red pandas at the zoo was $100,000, which the city announced in 2011. 

However, as disclosed at a recent Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, her estate has since given additional money, totaling “upwards of over half a million dollars,” Castillo said. That will cover the entire cost of the new exhibit. 

“The goal is to make the zoo into more of an event to encourage people to come visit this precious jewel in the city. So her estate made the decision to continue to fund the entire exhibit,” Castillo added.

The city will also incur minor costs in relation to permits, he said, which will go before the City Council for approval. 

The Vetter family — Thelma and her husband, William, who died in 1993 — moved to Atascadero in 1946 and purchased commercial properties in town. Thelma Vetter helped with the Atascadero Historical Society and the Friends of the Atascadero Library, among other local organizations, and often gave to various charities, according to the city.

This story was originally published February 9, 2015 at 1:27 AM with the headline "Red pandas to get spacious new home at Atascadero zoo."