So often, due to budget restraints, the only way to observe Giant Pandas is by going on line, checking out those zoo websites that have pandas or researching any stories written about them around the world. Flickr, the photo sharing website, is also a great source for not only keeping up with pandas all around the world, but meeting and getting to know other panda lovers. One panda pal, who lives close to the Memphis Zoo, kuku4pandas, provides current photos and recent news through flickr, about Ya Ya the female and Le Le the male on regular trips to see them . It is through these regular visits by other panda pals that you can get to know the personalities of the pandas along with interesting traits of each of them. Here is a little of what kuku has shared, from questions asked of the keepers and casual observations.
Ya Ya and Le Le have a spacious outdoor area covered in grass with structures for climbing, water cooled rocks and pools to help them keep cooler in the warmer months. Even with all of these amenities, Ya Ya being the girl she is, prefers life indoors to the outdoors, no matter the weather.
Ya Ya's name means 'beautiful little girl', she was born at the Beijing Zoo, China and she was hand raised, meaning they removed her from her mother very early and then raised her themselves. So, interacting with her keepers is natural for Ya, they say she is very playful and freely expresses herself to them vocally. She has distinctive eye patches, in that the black fur does not come all the way up to her eyes, showing a small circle of skin around her eyes. She has long ears that set on the top of her head.
Getting Ya Ya to go outside so that the keepers can clean and prepare her indoor area with fresh boo and enrichment items, requires some patience. Ya Ya will stand halfway in and halfway out the doorway, sniffing the air, maybe gauging the temperature, but she certainly takes her time about it. After a few minutes she saunters out into the outdoors, soon discovering fresh boo or other items that the keepers have set out for her, but before long she will be making trips back to the doorway to be let back into her climate controlled day room. The keepers can also move the pandas around through a series of enclosed metal-caged walkways inside while they clean and prepare their day rooms for fresh boo and enrichment items.
She doesn't like the water and so is rarely seen in the pool, but as you can see with the two photos, she will climb atop one of the 'cool rocks' that has cold water tubing running through it providing a cool surface.
She is still very young, born August 3, 2000 and the zoo staff are constantly monitoring her breedng behavior. Most female pandas come into estrus only once in the spring for a period of 2-3 days. Ya Ya sometimes comes into estrus twice a year. It is during these times you will see Ya Ya and Le Le together in hopes that they will mate naturally. Last year with the natural mating being unsuccessful, the staff used artificial insemination. A fetus was observed through ultrasound but the fetus did not make it to full term. This spring Ya Ya didn't come into estrus, so am sure the zoo staff is scratching their heads trying to understand. She currently weighs about 205 lbs.
She loves apples, raisins soaked in water , watermelon, strawberries and cantaloupe along with her regular diet of bamboo and leaf eater biscuits.
One of her favorite spots to rest is setting atop a large boulder, while leaning over onto a log set up about 10 feet off the ground.
Ya Ya's partner is Le Le. He is a bit more adventurous and doesn't mind the outdoors. You will see him climbing to the top of the outdoor platform sometimes going up the rope to get there. He also enjoys the pool while Ya will look on with 
disbelief.
His name means, 'Happy, Happy', He was born at the Chongquing Zoo, China and was mother reared. 
He has a very rounded face and his ears fan out a little more horizontally. They say he is a ferocious eater, preferring bamboo over most any other food item. If, he is eating a fruitcicle, a specially prepared item by the keepers, where they use nutritionally formulated fruit juices and pieces of fruit frozen together, he will chomp away at it, breaking it up so he can get to the fruit inside. True to his character of being a ferocious eater, if you watch him on the live cam he will hold a piece of food in both paws then alternate between his left and right paws eating away. He is pretty laid back and pretty much lets it all hang out when he falls asleep. 
I think this photo of him with all of his toys laying around him, pretty much says it all. Be sure to stop in to enjoy this wonderful pair of pandas at the Memphis Zoo, China Exhibit.
