Pandas Live on

Panda countdown continues at Adelaide Zoo

 

As the Shuttle countdown keeps getting pushed back here in Florida, due to the weather, the countdown keeps on moving ahead for Wang Wang and FuNi's arrival to the Adelaide Zoo.

I was missing the updates on the panda blog on the Zoo website, so I emailed them to ask them to please continue these updates as there are many of us following them with great interest.

A big thanks goes out to the Ryan Thomas, he responded right away!

Hi Dee

Our panda blog entries are still going along strong. The latest entries have been about the group that went to China to see Wang Wang and Funi and discuss how the pandas will be moved and the preparations that need to be made. 

With regard to the construction based updates, there should be another one up soon. If you’re following us on Twitter, you’ll know the moment it goes up!  http://twitter.com/ZoosSA

 Regards

Ryan Thomas

www.zoossa.com.au

I was checking out the rest of the South Australian zoo's website and discoverd a 'fun stuff' page. It has games, zoo tube, (information about the animals and keepers, along with desktop wallpapers. I really loved this one of the tiger. Now can you imagine one with Wang or Funi or both? Oh yeah.

Checking in on Tuan and Yuan in Taiwan

Its been a while since we have heard anything about the soon-to-be 5 year olds Tuan Tuan (M) and Yuan Yuan (F) of the Taipei Zoo in Taiwan.

Tuan's birthday is September 1, 2009 and Yuan's birthday is August 30, 2009. They have been adding alot of good information on their website about the characteristics of giant pandas.  For example, did you know:

"The giant panda has a very large and strong bone structure, twice the density of similar animals, and especially massive in the head. Its powerful jaws and a total of 42 teeth including short and flat canine teeth, and enlarged and very broad premolars and molars are specifically designed to crush tough food sources such as the bamboo."   - Taipei Zoo website

The photo below is one of Yang Yang from Zoo Atlanta, but you can see how large the molars are.  Photo courtesy of Hammy15 of flickr.

And they answer a question many people ask about the coloration of the giant pandas;

Their Woolly black and white coat:

• Excellent camouflage in the snow, and insolates the giant panda from cold and wetness.
• The thick and short fur covered in oil helps the giant panda to stay warm and dry.
• Most importantly the striking color pattern serves as a clear visual signal, a message to other pandas to stay away or keep a distance to avoid a direct confrontation.

I am guessing they will have their own birthday celebration maybe on the same day as they are so close and we will see new photos of them at that time. In the meantime, here are a couple of videos that the zoo has on their website that shows them outside together. 

 

Pandas International is always ready

Pandas International is a world wide non-profit foundation devoted to saving the Giant Panda.

 They were created in 2000 to assist the Chinese Veterinarians with their very limited medical equipment and funds.

The organization supports the CCRCGP China Conservation & Research Centers for the Giant Pandas at both the Wolong panda reserve, Sichuan Province and the Bifengxia panda reserve, Yaan City. The captive panda population was divided between the two reserves in 2003, as a preventative action for any potential disease outbreak or epidemic at a single reserve. 

We recently told you about Hua Mei and Gung Zho giving birth, with the first cubs of the season, so I wanted to let you know that Pandas International needs you to donate now to their Formula Fund. They are expecting up to 20 cubs in the next few months. All cubs raised in the nursery need the Esbilac milk formula in order to survive.

Since we are celebrating the first births of the year, you can choose to receive a free mother with cub plush toy
with your minimum donation of $25.00.
 

 

Thanks to Pandas International a great organization who were one of the first organizations that got  needed medical equipment and supplies to the Wolong Base right after the earthquake.  I hope you can help them provide the necessary supplies for these cubs.  Thanks. 

Donate to the Formula Fund

Tai Shan's birthday celebration

Thanks to the National Zoo staff who did a great job putting together Tai Shan's 4th birthday cake it is fantastic!  And from the look on Tai's face in these photos, it looks like Tai loved it too! They also have put together a photo collection of Tai with his cake this year,check it out here.

The zoo also posted this video of how they made the cake on flickr. along with additional photos.

 

A special thanks to Daniel.Techie,, Saulesmeit, RoxandaBear and Hammy15 of flickr for all of the great photos featured here.  So, I could incorporate more photos, I have used a smaller size, but just click on it to see it in full size.

  

     

 

Happy 4th Birthday, Tai Shan

Panda, Panda, Panda!  

You can't miss the cries of the children during their visit to the zoo as they walk by and suddenly discover a giant panda that is just beyond their reach.  Look mom, look dad, its a panda! There is such excitement in their voices.

Believe it or not, I feel that same kind of excitement when I see a panda and twice as excited if I get a chance to see Tai Shan.  Its been a great four years of watching him grow, becoming a stronger climber and seeing him develop all of his skills that now make him into a formidable male panda.  And just to show you how much he has changed over the four years, I have put together a little video of short clips recorded of him through the webcams.  It is below.

  The zoo has always put together a nice celebration for him and I have contacted several people who tell me they will be there to get photos and have agreed to let me post them here. So as soon as I can get them up I will. I do work early mornings so it will be later in the day. 

Tai Shan lives at the  National Zoo  and they are going to set up a cake for him. This is posted on their website: "Tune into the web cam at 8:30 a.m. to see him get a special frozen treat, a behemoth “cake” made of water, bamboo, shredded beets, and beet juice. The icy masterpiece will be topped with a sculpted “4.” So, if you are able to watch, then tune in to a  live webcam and enjoy the fun.  I'm sorry I am going to miss it live.  Hopefully someone will have it recorded on video for us to see also. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAI !

Thanks to Daniel and Roxanne, both of flickr for their great photos. 

 

Will Bai Yun have another cub?

San Diego Zoo talked on their blog recently about the preparations they are making in case Bai Yun is pregnant.

For instance, the birthing den, for them this area is closed off from the pandas most of the year.  So, they go in and check over everything, give it a thorough cleaning and see if anything needs to be repaired or replaced.   This year, thanks to generous donations from panda lovers who saw their request for a new camera and microphone for the birthing den on their wishlist, the zoo was able to purchase them!  That will enable the vet, keepers and others to monitor Bai Yun and cub better. 

The microphone is very important as audio recordings are one of the areas that scientist are using to understand the pandas and how they communicate. They already have recordings of adult pandas under various situations, particularly breeding and estrus.  So getting clear recordings of a panda cub would increase the comparative value of their work.

 

"Although we don’t expect to see signs of pregnancy from Bai Yun just yet, the vets have begun preparing her for monitoring via the use of ultrasound. Her first session of the season went well, and Bai Yun seemed to remember the drill. If she is indeed pregnant, we anticipate our first glimpse of a fetus somewhere about mid- to late-July…if she is on track with previous years, that is! Bai Yun seems to be regular as rain, with all four of her births taking place within a 20-day calendar window."  -   Suzanne Hall, Senior Research Technician for the San Diego Zoo's Institute for Conservation Research

Bai Yun is the proud mother of four cubs.  Her first was Hua Mei, (see recent post) who just had her seventh cub the other day at the Ya'an Bifengzia Panda Base in China.  Then there is Mei Sheng who mated naturally with a female this year at the Bifengzia panda base.  And that leaves sweet Su Lin and Zhen Zhen who both still reside at the San Diego Zoo.   

  In the meantime, keep up with the whole panda family through their live webcam. 

Wonderful photography of Bai Yun by Rita Petita of flickr, thank you. 

This chart shows the complete family tree of the San Diego pandas.  Click on it to enlarge the graphic so you can read the names. You can read all about each of the pandas on the San Diego Family History page.