The red panda is in danger of extinction. In order to build up its numbers and return some animals to the wild, the red panda is being bred in captivity. Several zoos have offered to send you their animals if you can show how you will pair them to produce the greatest number of successful matings - while guaranteeing the greatest genetic diversity in the offspring.

Your mission is to produce the largest number of healthy, genetically diverse offspring by finding and breeding the best red panda parents.

Clicking on a PANDA image will select that panda for breeding. The results of the mating will appear in this Explanation Frame.

Clicking on the PEDIGREE button to the left of each panda will bring up a separate window with pedigree information on that panda.

The RECLINING PANDA title button will bring up a window with useful information on the Red Panda.

Mousing over a PANDA or PEDIGREE button will show you the name, age, and gender of the animal in the status bar below.

HINT: Look for animals that do not share the same ancestors. Breeding animals that are closely related can amplify, perpetuate, and concentrate undesireable characteristics and genetic diseases in their offspring. So, the goal in the captive breeding of small populations of endangered species is to select animals that are compatible, but not closely related to each other. This preserves genetic diversity in the population, and helps prevent problems caused by inbreeding. Good luck!