My name is Urs

Tierpark Berlin’s baby red panda is named after his famous sponsor

    This Monday, the newest member of Tierpark Berlin’s red panda family received a visit from his sponsor Urs Fischer, beloved manager of local football club 1. FC Union Berlin. Fischer was delighted to meet his furry little namesake in person. Urs junior himself was a little shy, but family members Rosie, Ruby and Polly were fascinated by the visitor and only too happy to eat a few tasty titbits right out of his hand.

    In late September, Tierpark Berlin and 1. FC Union Berlin asked animal and sports fans to propose names for the new baby. Hundreds of suggestions were received, but in the end the three-man jury made up of animal keeper Nils Frankenfeld, Deputy Zoological Director Dr Florian Sicks, and Jochen Lesching, chairperson of the club’s charitable foundation, decided to name the youngster after the football team’s popular manager. “I’m really flattered that so many fans of Union and the Tierpark suggested the name ‘Urs’,” smiled Fischer. “They obviously know the origins of my name.” “Ursus” is the Latin word for “bear”, so Urs seemed an appropriate name for a little “cat-bear”, as red pandas are also known. “Of course, the red panda isn’t actually a bear,” points out Florian Sicks. “Despite their teddy-bear-like appearance, they are only distantly related to the real bears of the Ursidae family.” However, there are other things that connect the two Urses: red pandas are red and white and live in the mountains, and football pro Fischer is originally from Switzerland.

    Urs’ parents Joel and Shine came to Tierpark Berlin in 2020 as part of the Global Species Management Programme (GSMP) for red pandas. Red pandas are classified as “Endangered” on the IUCN Red List, so Zoo and Tierpark Director Dr Andreas Knieriem was particularly delighted to welcome Urs to the world. “Joel and Shine’s second-born is an important part of efforts to save his entire species,” he says. “Over the next few days our visitors have a good chance of spotting little Urs in his outdoor habitat. Just yesterday, several people told me they caught their first glimpse of him.”

    Background

    In 2020, Tierpark Berlin welcomed its first baby red panda in nine years. Local football team 1. FC Union Berlin agreed to sponsor the rare cub, who was named Loha. This spring, the young female moved to Belgian zoo Pairi Daiza on the recommendation of the European Endangered Species Programme (EEP). Loha’s little brother Urs was born on 28 June 2021. He is Tierpark Berlin’s eleventh baby red panda. At birth, red pandas weigh just 100 grams and are blind and helpless. They first open their eyes at around five weeks of age. Fully grown red pandas measure around one metre from their nose to the tip of their tail and weigh four to six kilograms. Red pandas spend the first three months of their lives in their den. Father Joel (6) lives in the same habitat as his offspring but, like all panda dads, he plays no part in raising the cubs.

    Red pandas are not related to the famous giant panda. Despite their nickname “cat-bear”, they are not part of the bear family Ursidae. They are actually the sole living representative of a separate family, Ailuridae. Yet they do share many characteristics with pandas. For example, they live primarily off bamboo. Also, like giant pandas, they have a “false thumb” – an extension of the wrist bone, which they use to grasp bamboo stalks. In the wild, red pandas live in an area ranging from northern India across mountainous regions of Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and China.The greatest threat facing these adorable animals is loss of suitable living space in their Himalayan homeland. Just like here in Europe, the increased fragmentation of habitats is making life tough for wild animals there as it disrupts natural genetic exchange between populations. This phenomenon is having an impact on the giant pandas in China and on their smaller namesakes the red pandas, who are confined to high-mountain forests (1,500 to 4,000 metres a.s.l.) with dense understories of bamboo.

    Opening hours

    Today, 29. March
    9:00 - 18:30
    Last admission: 17:00
    All opening hours

    Feedings & Trainings

    • Free-flight show 13:30
    • Penguin talk 14:30
    • Red pandas 17:00
    All feedings