Pat the Lesser Panda

Origin

Pat was born in Ústí nad Labem Zoo on July 8, 2007. He was one of twins: his brother was named Mat (Pat & Mat are the protagonists of an eponymous Czech animated series). In Prague Zoo, he lives near the main gate in an enclosure that provides conditions that perfectly imitate his natural habitat. Curiously, behind its historic railing lies the first enclosure that Prague Zoo visitors could admire – back in 1931. Then, it did not house lesser pandas but the famous Lotta the She-Wolf and her companions. We have kept our pandas here since 1993.

Temperament and Life in Prague Zoo

Pat is a naturally laid-back creature. Almost nothing can ruffle his composure – and when he is in the mood, he even lets himself be gently petted. On the other hand, he knows how to put his paw down (or rather, how to growl): in arguments with his partner Maria, who is two years older, he is usually wise enough to back down, but when he is really serious about something, he will not budge and by growling and sputtering he is able to bring home to her the error of her ways. Maria, however, gives as good as she gets, and then some. And it is she, more often than not, who is inquisitive enough to go and explore anything new around her, and who is on the same wavelength as their caretakers.

Some time ago, when we had built for the pandas a special wooden balcony on which to leave bamboo for them, Maria would always sit down in the middle of it and doggedly refuse to allow Pat to come anywhere near the delicacy. But after some time, all was well again, and today they tuck into their juicy bamboo feast together, sitting side by side.

However, do not get the wrong impression from the preceding lines: most of the time, Pat and Maria are a harmonious couple. That theirs was a functioning marriage became evident in 2012, when their first cub was born, a male named Akim – the first panda cub ever to be reared in Prague Zoo. The merry antics of this restless rascal – who managed to get his otherwise quite placid parents moving again, so that the entire trio frisked and gamboled around their enclosure – were a spectacle that, with a little bit of luck, could be enjoyed by visitors until the spring of 2013, when the male cub left for another zoo.
At night, our pandas sleep cuddled up to each other in one of the inside boxes. But that does not mean that they mind the cold: after all, this is a species that comes from high up the slopes of the Himalayas.

Being carnivoran, Pat and Maria do what carnivoran mammals do and spend most of their day resting. So most of the time you will catch sight of them as they rest on their favorite tree, which stands in the middle of the enclosure and, in the summer, is thickly overgrown with woodbine. That makes it much harder to see Pat in the summer; in the winter, on the other hand, he is perched on a bare branch and his shiny coat can be seen from afar. Your best chances to see Pat and Maria are early in the morning or late in the afternoon, when they sally out to explore the uneven terrain of their enclosure. You can tell them apart easily: Pat’s face is adorned with the typical “mask”, while Maria’s face is much more duller and whiter.