There are only an estimated 300 Nepalese red pandas remaining in the wild.
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Part of the effort to continue the species is three-year-old Tenzing, newly arrived in Tasmania and looking for love.
It is hoped Tenzing will breed with one of the zoo's female red pandas, and bring some little red-and-white cubs into the state.
Owner of Tasmania Zoo Rochelle Penney said they had high hopes for the little guy.
"There's only 46 red pandas [in captivity] in Australasia, and at the moment, the program required new genetics to be brought into Australia, which is why we were given the opportunity to bring Tenzing over from New Zealand," she said.
"It's kind of like match-making," added head keeper Emma Morgan.
Tasmania Zoo already has two red pandas, Mandu and Alaka, but they prefer sleeping on logs to interacting with people.
Tenzing, however, loves people, and will most likely be used in encounters at the zoo.
The cost of the experiences will go towards red panda conservation groups such as Forest Guardians, that work with local villages in Nepal to stem animal trafficking, poaching, and habitat destruction.
"Tenzing was actually supplement fed," Ms Penney said.
"He has a twin sister who was much bigger, and because they were competing for the mother's milk, he was fed by the keepers from six weeks old over at Hamilton Zoo [from where he has come to Tasmania].
"He then became quite friendly through that regular contact with the keepers."
Encounters involve members of the public entering enclosures and interacting or hand feeding the animal, supervised by a keeper.
Tenzing was also the first resident in Tasmania Zoo's new quarantine facility, where freshly arrived international animals must stay by law until they can meet the public.
They have been constructing the facility for three years.
"There's only a handful of quarantine facilities in Australia, and they're always quite full up with different animals," Ms Penney said.
"It's really exciting for us, because it's another way of contributing to these programs, and to help other zoos."
Red pandas are unrelated to giant pandas, except that they both have diets mostly consisting of bamboo.