A rare set of red panda twins has been born at a safari park in Wiltshire.

It’s only the second time the species, which is endangered in the wild, has bred successfully at Longleat.

Twin red panda births are extremely rare and keepers are delighted with the pair’s progress.

The new arrivals are doubly welcome as their parents have played a key part in an endangered species breeding programme, thanks to their diverse genetics.

The proud mother Credit: Longleat

Dad Ajenda, whose name means ‘King of the mountain’, came to Longleat from Germany in 2012.

Mum Rufina, meaning ‘Red-haired’, arrived from Italy just over a year later.

We’re delighted with how well Rufina is looking after the young cubs and both mother and babies are doing brilliantly Keeper Sam Allworthy

Red panda cubs don’t tend to start venturing out on their own for the first three months.

Keepers say Rufina, like all red panda mums, regularly moves the cubs to different nesting areas.

Their mother keeps moving their nest around - which makes the babies hard to keep track of! Credit: Longleat

This is perfectly natural behaviour but makes keeping track of the babies, or even confirming what sex they are, somewhat problematic for us, although we are pretty sure both babies are female. Keeper Sam Allworthy

In the wild red pandas are solitary animals, and they only really ever come together to breed. Credit: Longleat

Found in Nepal, Bhutan and China, the red panda lives among bamboo forests and spend much of their time in trees.

Like giant pandas about two-thirds of their food intake is made up of bamboo - as it is relatively low in calories, red pandas tend to spend much of their time either eating or sleeping.

Keepers also supplement their diet with a mix of fruits, eggs and the occasional insects along with a special type of bamboo cake which the pandas are especially fond of.