You can help name safari park's red panda twins

The public has the chance to name twin sister red panda cubs born at a safari park this summer.

The new arrivals are just over three months old after arriving on 16 June at West Midlands Safari Park in Bewdley, Worcestershire.

Head keeper Amy Sewell said the cubs spent their first few months snuggled up in their nest boxes with their mum, Mei Lin, and now they were a little older had been given their first health checks.

A shortlist of names has been chosen, with people encouraged to vote for their favourite on Facebook.

All animals born at the park this year are being given names beginning with N.

Keepers said the four options were Nadiya, meaning hope; Navina, meaning new; and Nehal and Nikisha, which both mean beautiful.

Ms Sewell said every cub born at the park helped to safeguard the endangered species, with fewer than 10,000 left in the wild.

Keepers had watched Mei Lin do a "brilliant job" raising twins, she said, adding: "She's even started to show them around, and it's been wonderful to watch the three of them exploring together, while dad Sanka proudly keeps a watchful eye from a distance."

Mei Lin arrived at the park in 2021 and was joined by Sanka in 2022 as part of a scheme by European zoos to conserve endangered species.

The cubs arrived two years to the day after Mei Lin had her first cub in 2023.

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