Red Panda Encounter, Wellington Zoo

I don't think Jay likes me.

From the safety of his house the little red panda fixes his tiny, round, shining eyes on me. His pointy white ears stand to attention and his white whiskers sprout symmetrically from either side of his petite snout. He sniffs the air curiously.

"Come on, handsome," cajoles Paul, Jay's keeper.

Jay is one of four red pandas here at Wellington Zoo. His enclosure - dubbed 'Nigalya Ponya Valley' - is a wide expanse of grass, bush and leafy trees. In one corner he has a short ladder - a ramp with rungs made of tree branches - which he clambers up to enter his inside enclosure.

Today, it appears to be his favourite place.

"Red pandas are quite timid, being prey animals," says Paul. "They like to keep off the ground.

"They also have very small brains. They're cute, but dim."

Looking at Jay, I can't deny his cuteness. His plush looking fur is a vibrant burnt orange along his back while his underbelly and legs are a dense, vivid black. On top of his round orange face, white ears point upwards like arrowheads. His unusual facial markings suggest he's just dipped his face in a bowl of icing sugar then been caught and cried orangey-red tears.

Cute, yes, but Jay doesn't seem so dim. He knows we've got a bowl full of food - his little nose keeps twitching furiously in our direction - yet his common sense is telling him we're predators.

Slowly he assesses us from various angles: the safety of the trees, the cover of the low scrub, the height of his ladder. Paul coaxes and calls gently, but Jay's not convinced.

Not until we decide to leave, that is.

As we walk towards the exit gate, Jay suddenly realises his error and scurries after us, scrambling along the branches of his play area. His face is still full of trepidation but his stomach is clearly in charge of all decision making today.

"G'day handsome," says Paul, as we both proffer cubes of pear in Jay's direction.

Jay ventures tentatively forward, tiny eyes full of intrigue. Perching on the very tip of a branch, he leans his head forward and ever-so-gently takes the fruit from my hand.

Grasping it firmly with his dextrous paws, Jay nibbles until the pear's gone.

Red pandas are classed as carnivores, but primarily eat bamboo. In their natural environment - the forests of the Himalayas and the mountains of China - the animals can eat up to 45 percent of their body weight, or 200,000, bamboo leaves a day.

This voracious appetite for bamboo is the reason these little animals are called 'pandas', even though they are most closely related to racoons. The word 'Panda' originates from the Nepalese word 'nigalya ponya', which means 'eater of bamboo'.

Unfortunately, here in Wellington, bamboo is not so readily available so the mammals' diet is supplemented with fruit and specialised 'panda cakes' that provide the majority of their nutritional needs.

Specialised nutrition is just one of the many positive developments that have been established at Wellington Zoo since it opened in 1906 as New Zealand's first zoo.

Starting out with just a single lion - called 'King Dick' - Wellington Zoo soon turned into a busy, early 1900s style of zoo focused on animals' entertainment value (think chimpanzee tea parties).

In the late 1980s, veterinary advances meant jail-like, quarantine-style enclosures became a thing of the past and Wellington Zoo embraced the opportunity to develop larger, more open habitats for their 500 animals. Today, the zoo is forging ahead with new, natural habitat enclosures and a raft of educational facilities to teach the public about the zoo's vital conservation work.

In the pipeline at present is a conservation hospital, where research and veterinary procedures will be carried out, giving the public a chance to observe and learn. The zoo is also working on three educational themes designed to promote the need for sustainable use of New Zealand's natural resources and a balance between humans and nature.

A number of Wellington Zoo's residents, including native, endangered and even critically endangered animals and birds, are involved in international breeding programmes. One such animal, classed as endangered by the the World Conservation Union, is the red panda. In 2007, three female red pandas were transferred from Wellington Zoo to Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee.

Two females and two males, including Jay, were left.

As I feed Jay cube after cube of pear and halves of grapes, he edges closer and closer to the edge of the branch, hungry for more.

I pat him as he chews, plunging my hand into his deep, course fur. He finishes a mouthful and pushes my hand back towards the food bowl with a tiny, surprisingly persuasive paw. Red pandas' paws are furry on the bottom to keep them warm in their natural snowy environment. On top are short, sharp protruding claws.

This time when his hand comes over to mine he wraps his furry little thumb around my own. His grasp is sure and firm: a red panda handshake.

Suddenly, he's had enough. Before the bowl is empty, Jay scurries back along his branch, long tail flailing behind, into the bushes, up his ladder and into the safety of his home.

Amelia experienced the Wellington Zoo Red Panda Encounter courtesy of Positively Wellington Tourism and Wellington Zoo.

Amelia is Content Editor for the New Zealand travel and tourism website www.fourcorners.co.nz.