Zoo Atlanta recently announced that "Mei Lan, giant panda cub born on September 6, 2006, will begin the weaning process from mother, Lun Lun."
My first experience in observing a panda cub being weaned from their mother, was Tai Shan of the National Zoo. I wasn't prepared at all for the emotional affect it would have on me. Maybe because I was there seeing him live, for the first time and having watched Tai and Mei together over the previous year and 8 months, you could see Tai absolutely adored his mother.
Of course, I knew it was necessary and it is a natural process of life and it occurs every day in nature. As I watched Tai going through his first full day without Mei, he seemed to be confused and upset that he could no longer have access to his mother. Discussions on this topic were lively to say the least on several flickr panda sites. Many of us didn't have a reference point with which to refer to on this process and basically reacted with a great deal of emotion.
Zoo Atlanta's recent news release of the weaning, described the process and how the mother and cub will most likely react to it, along with mentioning the data of other zoo's and the results of their weanings, followed up with a question and answer section. Yes,the cubs do quite well on their own and develop into beautiful, healthy pandas, because the zoo's do provide great care and management for them.
Lun will be coming into estrus again this April/May and so in order to continue with our efforts to save the endangered panda with breeding for more cubs, it is vital to take advantage of this cycle.
But you know what, it still doesn't make it any easier for me to watch this process. Maybe, I will let my fellow panda peeps keep me informed of Mei Lan's progress and then I can resume watching her on the live cams when I am ready. What can I say, I have a soft spot for panda cubs.
