Adorable Baby Panda Plays With Its Mum In Japanese Zoo

This is the moment an adorable baby panda wanders around his enclosure while playing with his mum, who keeps a close eye on the curious infant.

The celebrity baby panda named Kaedehama lives with his mum Ryohama at the Adventure World theme park in Wakayama Prefecture in Japan, and the footage was posted online by the park last Friday, 29th October.

According to a statement made by the Adventure World theme park, Kaedehama was born on 22nd November 2020 weighing only 157 grammes (5.5 oz), but has since grown steadily and, despite only being 343 days old, he now weighs 26.3 kilogrammes (58 lbs).

In the footage, Kaedehama can be seen walking around his enclosure with his mum keeping close to him. They can be seen enjoying a tussle together and play fighting.

Ryohama often grabs her baby and stops him from getting into trouble, especially when exploring the rocky areas of the enclosure.

Towards the end of the clip, Kaedehama somehow gets himself stuck in a hole, with only the top of his head visible, but his mum quickly comes to the rescue and attempts to drag him out of by the scruff of his neck.

He appears to resist her attempts to help him and slide back into the hole before eventually finding a way to get out of it on his own steam.

He can then be seen having a much needed drink from a waterfall embedded in the rocks nearby.

Kaedehama was recently featured in a video showing him taking a nap while rain could be heard pounding the roof of the enclosure.

The video has since racked up 33,866 views and countless positive comments stating how relaxed the baby panda looks enjoying his afternoon nap whilst precariously balanced on the branch.

One Netizen '0 TQ': "I think it's a sense of balance of a panda that can sleep normally even in places where it seems to fall if it moves."

'Rina' wrote: "Kaede is cute. Take a rest and good night."

Several others commented on the impressive balancing skills of the baby panda.

The theme park said in a statement: "Unfortunately it's raining in Shirahama today! 'Kaedehama' and mother panda 'Ryohama' spend time in the indoor playground. It was 'Kaedehama' who sleeps comfortably on the balance beam while listening to the sound of rain."

In 2016, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) reclassified the giant panda, (Ailuropoda melanoleuca) from 'endangered' to 'vulnerable', stating that the decade-long effort to save the panda has resulted in some positive progress.

Native to South Central China, giant pandas are found in zoos in some 20 different countries outside mainland China. China's 'Panda diplomacy' sees it lend out pandas to zoos all across the world.

According to a 2021 report in the American media outlet NPR, there are 1,800 giant pandas living in the wild.

ADVENTURE WORLD/NF/Peter Barker