Zoo salutes two of its cutest endangered species

Red Panda Day is Sept. 19, followed by Sea Otter Awareness Week, Sept. 20-26

Get reddy because you otter not miss this! The Oregon Zoo is celebrating two beloved furry species this weekend: International Red Panda Day is Saturday, Sept. 19, and Sea Otter Awareness Week kicks off Sunday, Sept. 20.

International Red Panda Day

Guests can stop by to see red panda pals Enoki and Liu on Saturday, Sept. 19 from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and chat with conservationists from the Red Panda Network.

"We're excited to meet Enoki and Liu's many fans," said Joy Marsalla, board chair for the Red Panda Network. "One of the greatest challenges facing red panda conservation is a lack of public awareness - the more people who know and love this species, the more we can do to help them in the wild."

Red pandas are native to the eastern Himalayas, specifically places like China and Nepal. In the past 25 years, habitat loss, poaching and the illegal wildlife trade have wiped out nearly half of their population. According to estimates, fewer than 5,000 red pandas remain in the wild.

Sea Otter Awareness Week

The furry fun continues at the sea otter habitat on Sunday, Sept. 20. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Elakha Alliance conservationists will be on hand to discuss current efforts to reintroduce sea otters in Oregon.

"We always look forward to Sea Otter Awareness Week at the zoo," said Chanel Hason, the Elakha Alliance's director of outreach and community relations. "We get to connect with so many new people about the important role sea otters play in the ecosystem."

The celebration of these playful marine mammals lasts all week, with anElakha Alliance livestream on Tuesday, Sept. 22, a series of local events celebrating sea otters and keeper talks at the zoo at 1 p.m. daily.

"Juno, Lincoln and Uni Sushi are great ambassadors for their species," said Nicole Nicassio-Hiskey, senior marine life keeper. "Bringing sea otters back to our coast would benefit all Oregonians, and we're excited for our community to learn how they can help this historic effort become a reality."

Though once abundant along the Oregon Coast, sea otters were hunted to extinction here in the early 1900s and have not established permanent residence in the state for more than a century. They are considered a keystone species in the Pacific Coast marine ecosystem, promoting healthy kelp forests, which in turn support thousands of organisms from gray whales to salmon.

All the Oregon Zoo's resident sea otters are rescue animals, orphaned as tiny pups off the coast of California. Lacking the skills to survive on their own, they were first brought to the Monterey Bay Aquarium's rescue program but were deemed non-releasable by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.