Pandas Live on

The photo world of flickr

   One of the links that I have posted in the left column under Fun Panda links is Flickr. This is a great site for storing and posting all of your photos.  There is a simple sign in process that you have to take care of first, setting up a name to use and of course the magical password. 

It is basically a photo site, where you can set up your own 'group' and use it to share your photos with others.  You can make your group private so that only family or friends can come in and see your photos or you can mark your group public which allows anyone who may be interested can view your photos.  The photo of Lun Lun and her cub Mei Lan who reside at the Atlanta Zoo was one I found on flickr, from a contact that I had met in one of the panda groups. She gave me permission to use the photo here.

Flickr has its own search tool, so that if you type in , any public group with the word panda in it will come up. One of the interesting aspects of flickr is its international.  So people from all over the world have photos posted here.  I was interested in seeing more pictures of pandas and I find that this is a great way to see them.  Some of the groups that feature pandas also set up discussions amongst the members so they can share knowledge between each other. A popular past time in watching pandas also involves the panda cams that various zoos have in place.  There are tools you can pick up from the internet, such as MWSnap that enables you to take a snapshot of the screen and save it to your computer. You will see this used on flickr also.

I have made many new friends through flickr and learned so much more about pandas then I ever thought possible.  I highly recommend it. 

Here is a photo provided by Zoo Vienna showing their new cub.

Here are two photos provided by theSan Diego zoo showing Bai Yun's cub being examined by the veterinarian.  Bai Yun has also started taking her cub out of the nest box.       

Elaine Washburn August 15, 1945 - September 25, 2007

I will dedicate today's blog to Elaine, mother, grandmother, an avid animal and panda lover.  She has been a volunteer at the Smithsonian National Zoo for the last 5 years, sharing her knowledge of the Giant Pandas to the many world-wide visitors that come to see the panda family every year.  I got to know her through a panda blog on flickr, her blog name was 8 x 10 Elaine.  She was planning a trip next fall to China to adopt a panda.  Thank You Elaine, am sure you are already finding new ways to help all of the pandas in the world now.

   

Memphis Zoo and their Pandas Ya Ya and Le Le

  Memphis Zoo first started the process of negotiations for their two Giant Pandas in April of 1999.  Travels back and forth between China and Memphis are many for the officials of the MZ.  Technical assistance programs and research studies have to be set up, discussions of the proposed 'China Project', the facility to house the pandas at the Memphis Zoo, meetings with the WWF, import permit application is submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and visits to become familiar with the giant pandas husbandry and veterinary practices at the Beijing Zoo where Ya Ya and Le Le are living.

The Memphis Zoo decided to design their giant panda habitat to be 'zoogeographical'.  The design accentuates the feature of a animal collection from a specific part of the world with the buildings, plant life and also the sounds.  With indoor and outdoor environments for the Pandas, there are also other animals, Pere David's deer, hog deer, red-breasted geese and white-naped cranes, to name a few. 

The agreements that are developed between each zoo and the Chinese government also involve serious research programs to be conducted by the zoos, to help in ensuring the future of the giant pandas . The Memphis Zoo proposed giant panda research programs include bamboo, its nutritional content, energetics and seasonality. One of the reasons the species is so threatened is its dietary reliance on bamboo.  Along with this research, they will be studying the breeding and maintenance of the giant pandas.  Several area universities also assist with the zoo to help in the research.  The Memphis zoo works in close association with the Chengdu Research Base for Giant Panda Breeding located in Chengdu, China.

Meet Ya Ya, which means 'beautiful little girl'.  She was born August 3, 2000 at the Beijing Zoo, Beijing, China.  Arrived in Memphis along with her partner Le Le on April of 2003.  She was hand raised as opposed to being raised by her mother.  Ya Ya is considered by her keepers to be a regular ham, loves attention and is very vocal in expressing herself when she wants something.  Her ears are rather pointed at the top and the fur does not grow right up to the area around her eyes leaving a small ring of dark skin.

Le Le is pronounced as luh luh and means 'happy happy'.  He was born July 18, 1998 in the Chonqguing Zoo, Chongquing, China.  Le Le was mother raised.  He is very playful around his keepers, but for the most part his favorite past time is eating bamboo.  He has a very round face, with round ears.  Both pandas were quarantined for several weeks upon arriving at the Memphis zoo.  They were gradually introduced to each other with the help of the keepers and they made their first public debut on October 28, 2003.

The bamboo that they eat is grown on a ten acre farm that was donated by the city of Memphis.  In addition to the bamboo that they eat, they are also given fruit, they both enjoy apples. Le Le will eat sugarcane, raisins soaked in water and some dry fruit.  Ya Ya, prefers bamboo but also enjoys watermelon, strawberries and cantaloupes. So, there are a couple of beautiful pandas to see and enjoy watching at the Memphis Zoo.  All of the pandas photos are courtesy of the Memphis Zoo.  You can find out more about their pandas on their website. They also feature a live webcam along with keeper's log that provides up to the date information on how the pandas are doing. Hope you have become a little more familiar with the pandas in Memphis and a little history behind their historic stay.

So, you want Giant Pandas at your Zoo?

We have four zoos in the United States that care for and breed Giant Pandas:  The Memphis Zoo, Memphis, Tennessee; San Diego Zoo, San Diego, California; Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia and the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington D.C.

Arranging for the opportunity to have Giant Pandas in the United States from China is no small feat. The discussions not only involve many organizations from this country but as you can imagine, many in China.  Here are a few of the major organizations: The Chinese Embassy, The Chinese Association of Zoological Gardens, China's State Forestry Agency, Giant Panda Conservation Foundation, US Fish & Wildlife Service and the World Wildlife Fund. 

The four US zoo's work in conjunction with two different Panda Research Centers in China,Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and the Wolong Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.(featured photo) Both centers are located in the western region of China. Extensive research is conducted in both locations in the hopes that someday the future for pandas is much brighter then its current endangered status.

Here are the latest in a couple of webcam shots, featuring on the top the 1 month old cub and her mother Yang Yang at the Zoo Vienna in Austria and on the bottom is the 6 week old cub with her mother Bai Yun at the Diego Zoo in California.

Happy International "Talk like a pirate day".

 

Yang Yang of Zoo Atlanta partakes in todays holiday!  Thanks to Animation Factory for the background.

In the beginning...

If you look at the Giant Pandas today, it would be hard to visualize them beginning their existence as far back as 8 million years ago. I look at the picture above showing the two pandas and my first reaction is, run for your lives!  Indeed the earliest found fossil evidence of the early ancestor of today's Giant Pandas indicates it was during the Miocene period and basically in the area of the Yunan Province of China. This primal panda had a carnassial food habit and was more like a fat fox, as the Chinese would say. There is a wonderful animated map that shows the modern and historical distribution of the Giant Pandas in China. This primal panda became extinct, but other pandas of this lineage continued its evolution and moved into parts of central and southern China. This panda was about half the size of the current day panda and could be described to look similiar to a 'fat dog'. After studying the fossil of this pandas teeth, it is speculated to have evolved into a species of omnivorous animals, which partially feeds on bamboo. As the Giant Panda adapted to the life in the subtropical bamboo woods, their bodies grew bigger and bigger. A informative website Science Museums of China has a full section on Giant Pandas and from where I gathered this informaton.  The photo above also comes from the Science Museum website. There is still much to learn about Giant Pandas, not only of their past but also how to ensure a long and healthy future for them.

I wanted to show you a couple of webcam shots from the San Diego Zoo.  The little girl cub, is 6 weeks old now, weighs 4.1 lbs. and her length is 1.4 feet long.  She is being cared for by her mother, Bai Yun, which means 'white cloud'. This is the fourth cub for Bai Yun, her third female.  

   

      

It's a Girl!

If you haven't been following the news closely and who hasn't, then you missed a happy news story that I need to bring to your attention.  Another Panda cub was born at the San Diego Zoo on August 3, 2007. The San Diego Zoo has had great success with the natural breeding between their pandas, Bai Yun (female) and Gao Gao (male). Both pandas reside at the zoo. 

After having its third physical exam, it was announced the panda cub is a girl and "She is developing right along schedule," said Meg Sutherland-Smith, DVM. "She's becoming more animated. She was vocalizing more than she did in the first exam. She is also losing her baby fuzz and getting her adult coat."  You can listen to a recording of the five-week-old-cubs examination through their iZoosafari chat.

The Staff at the Giant Panda Research Station care for and manage the Pandas at the San Diego Zoo.  They do a wonderful job of keeping us informed and educated about their pandas, utilizing a live web cam, a regularly updated panda blog, photos, videos and more, all found on the San Diego website.

But, when it comes to a newborn, the care for the cub is left totally with the mother.  Bai Yun, meaning White Cloud, is a proud mother of three previous pandas cubs.  She just turned 16 on September 7, 2007.  All of her cubs have been born at the SDZ, Hua Mei (female/1999), Mei Sheng (male/2003), Su Lin (female/2005).  The new cub will remain under the direct care of her mother until Bai Yun decides it is time for her to be weaned. This usually take place between 18 months to 2 years of age.

Following Chinese tradition, the cub won't be given a name until after its 100th day.  In the meantime, keep an eye on how quickly she develops. By observing her mom, the cub will quickly pick up most all of her needed survival skills.  So that means there is one more panda to add to the number of the Endangered Giant Pandas that live on this planet.  That's good news we should be happy to hear about!