Mandu the Nepalise red panda arrived at her new habitat on Tuesday, with zoo manager Rochelle Penney confident she would have no problem adjusting to the climate.

“Tasmania has the perfect weather for red pandas,” she said.

“There is a lot of snow where they live and they have fur on their feet to keep warm.

“It’s very suitable.”

Born at Melbourne Zoo in 2015, Mandu (short for Kathmandu) is part of a breeding program for the animals.

She may be the first of her kind to arrive in Launceston, but she won’t be the last, with another member of the species set to arrive at Tasmania Zoo in the coming weeks.

While it will bring some familiarity to her new habitat, Ms Penney said Mandu may not welcome the companionship.

“Red pandas are naturally solitary animals,” she said.

“Mandu would probably be quite happy to disappear on her own, so it remains to be seen whether she will share an enclosure with the one that is yet to arrive.

“Despite their nature, a lot of captive red pandas live together, so time will tell.”

Not everyone has welcomed Mandu’s arrival at the zoo, with animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals conducting a petition at the start of the year to stop the state’s import of the animals.

For Ms Penney, the addition of Mandu to the zoo is about creating awareness of efforts to preserve the species.

“They are quite endangered,” she said.

“There are only about 300 Nepalise red pandas left in the wild and about 2500 left overall.

“The zoo is involved with the Red Panda Network, Forest Guardians, so it’s great to be able to get people down in Tasmania to understand more about them.

“She is a bit shy at the moment, but I don’t think it will take her long to relax and start interacting with people here.”