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He might be Saskatoon’s most eligible bachelor.

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Phoenix, the city’s only red panda, will spend Valentine’s Day alone this year, but it’s not for a lack of effort.

Officials at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park & Zoo have been trying to set up a date for the mischievous critter. So far the fluffy, raccoon-like mammal is still single.

Red pandas are highly endangered. Fewer than 10,000 remain in the wild in southern China.

Phoenix, who arrived in Saskatoon from the Assiniboine Park Zoo in Winnipeg in 2013, is part of the Species Survival Plan, a program designed to boost the species’ dwindling population.

Think of it as an animal dating service, said Forestry Farm Park and Zoo manager John Moran.

“In order to keep the genetics as pure as possible, mates for the animals are sought from all over the world,” Moran said.

Biologists track individual animals through their bloodlines, going back as far as six or seven generations. Using that family history, mates are recommended based on their genetic diversity.

Staff at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm previously had their eyes set on a female red panda located in North Dakota, but she had developed medical issues and couldn’t be brought to Saskatoon.