A third Red Panda has died at Edinburgh Zoo

A third red panda has died at Edinburgh Zoo over the weekend.

This follows the deaths of two other red pandas last month from shock caused by firework displays.

In a statement on Instagram, Edinburgh Zoo said: “We are sad to share the loss of Kevyn, our eldest male red panda, who passed away this weekend. At 14 years old, Kevyn has been facing age-related health issues and being cared for closely by our expert keepers and vets”

The death is another blow to the species at Edinburgh Zoo following the death of three-month old Red Panda Roxie and nine-year-old Ginger in November.

Following these deaths, the zoo announced that it would be joining with animal welfare charities and other campaigns in calling for tighter restrictions on fireworks.

Edinburgh City Council was the first council in Scotland to pass a fireworks ban in August of last year, with control zones being created from the 1st to the 1o of November. However, this did not prevent disorder in the city on Bonfire night with a total of 13 people being charged over disturbances on 5 November.

Since November, tighter controls over the sale and use of fireworks were debated in Parliament on the 9th of December following a petition to ban to sale of fireworks to the general public gained over 50,000 signatures.

In a statement to the BBC, Ben Supple, The RZSS Deputy Chief executive said: “We support calls from animal welfare charities to ban the sale of fireworks to the public. This would help avoid devastating consequences for animals like Roxie while ensuring that people can still enjoy traditional celebrations”

Edinburgh Zoo closed their announcement with a testament to Kevyn as being “a favourite among staff and visitors during his time at both out charity’s zoos and will be hugely missed”