Pair of rare red panda cubs die at safari park after cold snap

Their mother had recently started the weaning process

Two rare red panda cubs bred at Longleat have died due to freezing temperatures.

Twins Tala and Sumi, who were born in early summer, were found dead in their nesting box at the Wiltshire safari park on Thursday morning.

It is thought they died from hypothermia, a spokesman for the park said.

They added that their mother had stopped providing supportive feeds, that this could therefore have also played a part.

The cubs were born to parents Emma and Lionel and were first seen by the public in September when they began to venture outside, the BBC reports.

Temperatures at Longleat are thought to have dipped to between -7C and -8C overnight into Thursday.

Keepers at the safari park think the fact that their mother had started the weaning process and was no longer providing supportive feeds may have contributed to the cubs' deaths.