Freyja the red panda arrives at Paradise Park, with Rollo to follow

There is a new face peering down from the trees at Paradise Park in Hayle this summer, and she has come a long way to get there. Freyja, a young female red panda, has just made the journey from Copenhagen Zoo in Denmark to her new home in Cornwall.

A goddess in the treetops

Freyja was born on 5 July 2025, which makes her just over a year old. She is the first of two young red pandas allocated to Paradise Park through the coordinated breeding programme for this endangered species. Her future companion is a young male travelling from France, expected to arrive any day now. He will be called Rollo.

Curator David Woolcock said: “Freyja arrived a few days ago and has already spent time exploring her new enclosure and large tree. We are leaving her travel crate in place while she settles in at her own pace. She is curious, calm and already winning hearts behind the scenes, and we hope visitors will enjoy spotting her as she becomes more confident in her new home.”

The names carry a story of their own. Keeper Emma chose Freyja after the Norse goddess associated with love, beauty and magic. It pairs neatly with Rollo, a name tied to Norse history and Normandy, a nod to where the two young pandas have come from in Denmark and France.

📷Credit: Paradise Park

An endangered favourite

Red pandas are skilful tree climbers with thick russet fur, expressive faces and long bushy tails, which makes them a favourite with visitors of every age. In the wild they are endangered, with habitat loss and fragmentation among the threats they face. Paradise Park supports carefully managed breeding efforts that help maintain healthy red panda populations and raise awareness of the species.

Visitors this summer may also spot the park’s much-loved resident red panda, Jai-Li, who turned 15 in June. Jai-Li arrived at Paradise Park in 2012 as a one-year-old and has played an important part in the red panda breeding programme, raising seven cubs over the years. She is an older panda now but continues to do well, and remains one of the park’s most popular animals.

Ten years of support

Over the past decade, Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary has contributed £20,720 to the Red Panda Network, thanks to donations from its Red Panda Experience programme. That money has supported the Red Panda Protected Forest, the world’s first protected area dedicated to red pandas, and the Plant A Red Panda Home campaign, which has now put 15,113 trees in the ground.

Paradise Park is on Trelissick Road in Hayle and opens daily from 10am, with closing times varying through the season.

📷Credit: Paradise Park