Photo via National Zoo

While most of you still have another nine days before Bei Bei makes his public debut, you can now see the zoo’s latest pandas, Tusa and Asa. The male and female one-year-olds have replaced Shama and Rusty as the zoo’s red pandas.

This zoo hasn’t housed this breed of animal since Shama and Rusty (who’s best known for escaping his enclosure, then being placed on 24/7 watch) left D.C. in 2014. They relocated to the Conservation Biology Institute in Virginia. Eight months later, Shama was euthanized after suffering from a neurologic disorder.

Tusa was previously at the Scovill Zoo in Illinois, and Asa comes from the Conservation Biology Institute, says zoo spokesperson Devin Murphy. Both animals arrived at the small mammal house this month and can be viewed during the zoo’s new hours of operation.

Filed Under: asa, national zoo, red pandas, rusty, shama, tusa, zoo,