Baby red pandas on display at Prospect Park Zoo

NEW YORK - Two red panda cubs that were born at the Prospect Park Zoo this summer are now on display to the public, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society.

The pair -- one male and one female -- are a subspecies of red panda native to the eastern portion of the Himalaya Mountains, WCS said.

"Red panda cubs are born with a very soft, plush light brown coat that eventually becomes more coarse," according to the WCS news release. "Adult red pandas have reddish-brown and black coats. They have an adaptation on their wrists that acts much like a thumb and enables them to grasp food items like bamboo as well as tree branches."

The International Union of Conservation of Nature lists red pandas as "vulnerable" because of habitat loss due to deforestation for timber, fuel and agricultural use, WCS said.

The WCS manages the Prospect Park Zoo and the New York Aquarium in Brooklyn, as well as the Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, and the Bronx Zoo.