They’re already getting ready to venture outside.

Fota Wildlife Park has announced the arrival of three red panda cubs, born to mother Laxmi and father Grga.

The three cubs (one male and two female) were born on June 9th and have spent the past few weeks in their nesting box in the Asian Sanctuary at Fota Wildlife Park, sleeping, feeding, and being nursed.

In the coming weeks, the cubs will start to venture outside their nesting box for brief periods in the early morning or late evening under the watchful eye of mum Laxmi.

The fulgens subspecies of the red panda is critically endangered. In fact, there may be as few as 2,500 mature individuals remaining in the wild. Recent estimates suggest that there has been a 50 percent decrease in numbers over the last 20 years alone.

Fota Wildlife Park is now home to seven red pandas, all of whom live in a specially designed habitat in the Asian Sanctuary.

The park is inviting the public to name the three new babies with suggestions welcome through their blog page fotawildlife.ie/blog and three year-long conservation passes to Fota on offer for the winning names.