Pandas Live on

Summer visit with Tai and Tian

 Daniel.Techie who lives in Washington D.C., got these wonderful photos of the guys who live at the National Zoo.   He got there early and came away with these photos of big daddy, Tian Tian and his son Tai Shan who will be turning 4 years old this July 9, 2009. 

Its hard to believe Tai is four years old already and I am so happy that the National Zoo was able to extend his stay in the U.S., so we have been able to watch him grow over the years into the beautiful panda that he is.  Thanks Daniel for sharing these. 

Hey Tai!

 

Tai Shan looking right at you!

 

Tian - can you see the resemblance?

 Tian and his 'bear cave' that is air cooled for summer.

Happy Celebrations for Lin Hui's cub

Congratulations to the Chiang Mai Zoo  in Thailand for the one month anniversary of the female cub that was born to Lin Hui in May.  The site published these photos of the beautiful cake that they had prepared along with the cub in her little incubator.  She looks like she is singing Happy Birthday herself! 

Thanks to Alice a panda pal who lives in Belgium for letting me know about these great photos.

  

 

 

 

 

 

Now that is one Big Birthday Cake!

 

Mother and cub are resting comfortably this morning.  First time I have been able to pull up the live webcam for days!

Ice Day at Zoo Atlanta

It looks like cubby Xi Lan decided he was hungry and began to nurse with his mom, Lun lun right around the time the zoo was going to set up the ice. So, we may have to wait a little longer before the keepers at Zoo Atlanta can do anything. In the meantime, I will keep watch on the live webcam.

 

Looks like JT, one of the keepers has put out a small tray of ice for Xi Lan to explore with.  But I think he is still napping after his nursing session.   Lun doesn't seem much interested in it. 

 

In the meantime, Le Le the male at the Memphis Zoo is enjoying his nap. He is famous for just sprawling out when he naps.

 

Luckily, Mary and Stacy are there to get some great photos and I will post them here when they get home tonight.  

Conservation International and wild pandas

I'll bet you didn't know the people behind the animated movie 'Kung Fu Panda' were also involved with Conservation International in helping wild pandas. There's a great video featuring Jack Black, who talks about how we can help wild pandas and their habitat after the article.

 

 

Conservation International (CI), a Washington D.C.-based eco-protection organization, will continue its giant panda conservation efforts in southwest China despite the pending completion of its "Kung Fu Panda" project in June, its chairman said on Tuesday.

Peter Seligmann, the CI Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), told Xinhua that CI will continue to work on encouraging local farmers to take part in panda protection and build larger corridors to connect different areas of land inhabited by pandas.

Zhang Li, technical director of CI China Program, said CI will work with international partners, including McDonald's and United Technologies Corporation (UTC), to provide technical and financial support for reforestation and land use management, and the reconstruction of 18 panda corridors.

Birthday for Lin Hui's cub

Today marks one month since Lin Hui had her female cub. There will be special events, photos and special viewing for the public at the Chiang Mai Zoo. The tiny cub will be inside an incubator, like the photo below, as the zoo sets up lines for people to catch a glimpse of her.

 

 

 

They have asked people to bring gifts for the cub that she will be able to play with in a couple of months time. As the photos, videos and stories begin to get published, we will provide all of the news of the day here. In the meantime, Happy Birthday Cubby!

 

Don't forget to vote on what name you would like to see the zoo name the cub. There is a poll on the right sidebar where you can participate, although it won't be counted by the zoo.  They have a special post card that the citizens can get and mark their favorite name on.  I voted for Tai Jin 'Thai Gold' but I see alot of you like the name Kwan Tai 'darling of the Tai people'. The name will be announce first of August.

Adelaide Zoo counting the days

The Adelaide Zoo Panda Exhibit is well on its way to getting everything ready for its special guests. They are now stating that it will be middle of December this year when Wang Wang and Funi will be available for the public to see them.

"The Zoo is now saying the two pandas will arrive in Australia in mid-October and will spend their first 30 days in quarantine, before spending time getting used to their new home away from the public eye.." -Adelaide Now

In the meantime, the city has erected a six by four meter panda shaped clock downtown on one of the office buildings to help people keep track of how many more days are left before they can visit the pandas.

 

We will keep you posted here as new stories are published. You can also go to a special page that the Adelaide Now has put together on their site where you can find any news that is published about the Wang and Funi.

Thanks to hugwildlife our panda reporter in Australia for providing the tip/link for this article.

Fluffy cheeks are a special trait in some giant pandas

The other day, I was showing some photos of four year old, Su Lin of the San Diego Zoo  and commented about how fluffy her cheeks were. You know this is a very unique and valued trait in giant pandas. 

Mei Lan who resides at Zoo Atlanta has pretty fluffy cheeks too. She is another young panda who will be going to China to participate in the breeding program there.

When you look at photos of the cubs alongside with their mothers you can see where they got this trait from. Thanks to Rita Petita and bob2cleo both of flickr for the photos in the graphics.

 

bob2cleo of flickr got these great little videos of Me Lan, who will be three years old on September 6, 2009, thanks.

 

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Lin Hui's cub has unique markings

The Nation reports in describing Lin's cub,  "Her hind legs are black up to the knees only," said Prasertsak Boontrakulpoontawee, the pandaproject chief. "The hind legs of most pandas are black from the feet up to their thighs."   They say that neither parent has markings like the cubs.  The Nation is also reporting:

At the latest of its regular health checks, the baby panda yesterday weighed 955 grams and measured 29 centimetres in length and they are saying she should be opening her eyes very soon!

Yesterday marked the first time that mother and cub were separated for as long as an hour. Officials explained that Lin Hui needed to get used to some physical separation ahead of the direct public display of the cub.

That display will happen between July 4 and July 6, when the baby panda will be placed in a glass cage intermittently to allow zoo visitors a closer glimpse of the little star. Zoo celebrations of the cub's birth will also take place over the three days.

 

Watch in this video I put together from the Chiang Mai Zoo live web cam when Lin picks her up and you will see the black stocking only comes up to her knees on both legs.

The NNT National News Bureau of Thailand reports that Thailand is proposing a fifth permanent panda center in Thailand.

The Panda Research and Display Section Head, Mr.Prasertsak Boontrakoonpoonthawee, revealed that the baby panda and its mother were healthy, its weight was likely to exceed one kilogram, while currently it gained on average, more than 200 grams a day.

He said that during the past few days, representatives from Thailand had traveled to China to negotiate with Chinese authorities to allow the new born panda to remain in Thailand longer than initially agreed. During the visit, Thailand had proposed to build a permanent panda research center in Thailand. This would be the first established center outside of China.