Roxie, a three-month-old panda, had just lost her mother, Ginger, five days earlier. Though the zookeepers at the Edinburgh Zoo were initially worried that she might not pull through, they became optimistic when she began to eat independently.
That optimism quickly turned to despair, after camera footage showed Roxie becoming agitated during a continual din of fireworks as the city celebrated its annual Bonfire Night.
“Roxie was very frightened by the fireworks,” Ben Supple, the deputy chief executive of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, which runs the zoo, said on Thursday night.
Roxie became ill, choked on her vomit, and died on Nov. 5. “It’s very sad to have lost Roxie at such a particularly young age,” Mr. Supple said. “Roxie would have been a wonderful ambassador for red pandas.”
The zoological society is now calling for greater restrictions on the extensive fireworks displays that are a trademark of Bonfire Night, also known as Guy Fawkes Night, the Nov. 5 celebration named after a participant in a failed plot in 1605 to kill King James I.
More than one million have signed a public petition seeking tighter controls on fireworks displays. The petition was delivered to the British government last week.
Ginger, who was 9 years old, died suddenly on Oct. 31, with celebratory fireworks already underway. “We can’t rule out that fireworks contributed to the death of Ginger,” Mr. Supple said.
Red pandas can live over 20 years, and up until two weeks ago, the Edinburgh Zoo had five of them. Roxie’s father, Bruce, is one of the three remaining.
Red pandas are native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. But habitat loss and poaching have made them an endangered species. They are about the size of a domesticated cat, and they are not closely related to giant pandas, but are related to skunks, raccoons and weasels.
At the Edinburgh Zoo, Roxie had extra-deep bedding, made of hay, in her den. “Ideally, she would have snuggled up there to stay nice and safe and warm,” Mr. Supple said. But the frightening noises from outside her cozy den seem to have been too much for her, he said.
Noise from fireworks can reach levels as high as 160 decibels or more. That’s louder than a jet plane taking off from 100 yards away or a jackhammer.
“Red pandas can most likely hear sound at a very low frequency, which is why fireworks at any range could disturb them,” Mr. Supple said. “It’s also why so-called silent fireworks, we don’t consider to be the solution. Silent fireworks can still emit a low-frequency noise which red pandas are likely to be disturbed by, along with other species.”
Each year, zookeepers see that many different species show signs of distress when fireworks are happening in Edinburgh, he said. The zoological society keeps its giraffes, chimpanzees, horses, lions, and tigers shut inside overnight to better protect them, he said.
The society is supporting calls from animal welfare groups to ban the sale of fireworks to the public. They are asking that only light displays be allowed during large-scale public celebrations.
“Animals like Roxie are tremendously popular,” Mr. Supple said, “and that helps engage people with nature, and helps them to learn about the global biodiversity crisis, which is more important than ever.”
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