San Francisco Zoo officials reveal new red panda's name

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The new panda at the San Francisco Zoo now has a name.

Zoo officials have revealed that the new 10-month-old male red panda will be named "Tenzing."

The name comes from Tenzing Norgay, the famous Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer who scaled Mount Everest in 1953 with Sir Edmund Hillary.

Bay Area philanthropist Barry Lipman and his wife Marie won the naming rights, with a $31,000 donation to the zoo.

Red pandas are about the size of a bobcat. The species is native to the eastern Himalayas and western China. But experts say it faces the threat of severely reduced habitat due to human development.

The Red Panda exhibit will open to the public on May 10, with an exclusive preview for SFZS Members that day from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.