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.    

Picture perfect, Chiang Mai Pandas

It's been so interesting to watch Lin Hui on the Chiang Mai Zoo live webcam not only caring for her cub, but also her interactions with the zoo staff.  I appreciate the zoo's willingness to be so open in showing this. 

Lee Morris  of Facebook, was so kind to scan these beautiful postcards of Lin and Chuang and forward them to me so I could share them with you.  They picked them up when they were there visiting Lin and Chuang last year.  You can also see photos that they took of the cute pair also at their Facebook page. 

 These first three are of Lin Hui and I found her name means 'beautiful forest'.  She was born on September 29, 2000 at the Wolong Giant Panda Base.

 

 

   

These are Chuang Chuang and his name means 'clever'.  He was born on August 6, 1999 also at the Wolong Giant Panda Base.

 

 

 

 

Happy Father's Day

Today here in the U.S. we are celebrating 'Father's Day' .

  The panda dads usually don't get as much attention as their female counterparts and their cubs.  But here at Pandas Live On, we know how special they are and we appreciate their contributions to the wonderful offspring they have helped to produce.

Here are our four wonderful pandas.

Panda Dad, Gao Gao

of the San Diego Zoo, is a three time dad of a male, Mei Sheng, female, Su Lin, and female, Zhen Zhen. Photo by Rita Petita of flickr.

Panda Dad, Yang Yang

  

of Zoo Atlanta is a two time dad of a female, Mei Lan and male Xi Lan. Photo by bob2cleo of flickr.

Panda Dad, Tian Tian

 

of the National Zoo is a one time dad, but he's not done by any means, of a male, Tai Shan. Photo by Daniel.Techie of flickr.

Panda Dad, to be, Le Le

  

of Memphis Zoo, is not a dad yet, but we look forward to the day when he will be. Photo by bob2cleo of flickr.

Have a great Father's Day, Gao, Yang, Tian and Le!

 

Hey Su Lin, what you up to?

Speaking of pandas leaving to go to China, Su Lin is certainly going to be another panda who will eventually be going to China in the very near future, but I haven't heard a date as of yet for her.

I was reading the San Diego panda blog the other day.  Elle Rosenbaum, one of the panda narrators, was talking about how active Su had been, delighting all the visitors. She has just experienced her first estrus also.  Congratulations there Su! 

 

I haven't had the time to watch cams like I used to, but when I do, the cam has been zoomed way out. I was really looking forward to seeing Su and her younger sister Zhen up close on the cams, but I seem to keep missing those moments.

Thanks to Rita Petita of flickr who got these great photos of Su back in May.  She is looking so beautiful and I can't get over how fluffy her cheeks are.  From what Elle was telling us on the blog, Su's tree climbing has reached new levels and the horticulture staff at the San Diego zoo had to come in and do some additional trimming on a elm tree because of her daring feats in this particular tree.  Way to go, Su Lin, sounds like you are taking after your big brother Mei Sheng who is also famous for his climbing feats. 

 

Big Boy, Fu Long

We haven't forgotten about dear Fu, who resides at Zoo Vienna and yes he will be leaving for China at the end of this year.

pandanews08 of YouTube got this recent video of Fu and his mom Yang Yang. Goodness he is growing and really filling out. I used to chuckle at his big ears, like in the photo above, but they don't look so big anymore. Take a look at '22 month old' Fu in this video.

Let's rally for Zoo Atlanta's pandas

Many of you have helped in the past with specific fund raising events for pandas, whether it be for a bamboo cooler in San Diego, ice machine in Atlanta or new enrichment items for any one of the zoo across the world.

CEO & President of Zoo Atlanta, Dennis Kelly made a plea yesterday to the community,not for a new piece of equipment or something else to help keep Lun, Yang, Mei and Xi comfortable and healthy, but help to keep the pandas at Zoo Atlanta.  Wow, did I hear right?  This news came as quite a jolt as I cannot imagine the possibility of NO giant pandas at Zoo Atlanta. 

The zoo has successfully negotiated new terms with the Chinese to continue their research and care of the pandas at Zoo Atlanta, but coming up with the money to renew the loan agreement is another matter. 

We all know how hard it is to pay our bills and keep ourselves out of debt.  So, you know first hand what challenges the zoo has in these slow economic times and add on top of that, this new loan agreement. 

Over the last several or more months, the zoo has actively pursued donations, sponsorships and other avenues to raise the additional funds they will need to finalize this agreement with China .  Unfortunately, time is running out and the zoo is still $500,000 short of what they need. 

I am so grateful they are openly asking for help from the community, rather then just giving up.  I know we can help Zoo Atlanta, I know there are many tenacious panda fans out there.  So, I am asking you to join me in rallying behind Zoo Atlanta and contribute in any way-you-can to the 'Give so they stay' program. 

I am not willing to accept the fact, that there will no longer be giant pandas at Zoo Atlanta, I am betting that you feel the same.  It's rally time for panda lovers to be there when it counts.

GIVE SO THEY STAY!

Zoo Atlanta pandas, Give So They Stay!

Zoo Atlanta  has launched a new fundraising campaign called Give So They Stay so that they can keep their giant panda family at Zoo Atlanta. 

President & CEO Dennis Kelly made the announcement this morning from inside an empty giant panda habitat in the Zoo’s Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation Giant Panda Conservation Center.

“Giant pandas have been an important part of Zoo Atlanta’s collection and a source of Atlanta pride for 10 years, and we are a national leader in the care and study of this species,” said Kelly. “Without significant support from our community, our giant panda family will have to return to China in the near future.”

  

Check out their website. They are looking for a big response from the public.  So, we really need to pull our resources together and help Zoo Atlanta keep their giant pandas.  Thanks bob2cleo of flickr for the photo.

Names for Lin Hui's cub.

The Bangkok Post reports,

Will it be Kwan Thai, Lin Bing, Ying Ying or Tai Jin? One of these names will be given to the baby panda born at Chiang Mai Zoo last month, and it will be decided by the public.

The four names were shortlisted from about 300 proposed in a naming contest that involved more than 560,000 postcards.

Members of the public can vote for their favourite name at any post office until Aug 5. The result will be announced on Aug 12.

A special postcard containing the four names will go on sale in Bangkok from Friday and in other provinces from next Monday. People can tick one of the four names and send the postcard.

Kwan Thai is a Thai expression meaning "a darling of the Thai people".

Lin Bing is Chinese for "a forest of ice". The word bing is very similar in Chinese pronunciation to "ping", the name of Chiang Mai's major river.

Tai Jin means "Thai gold". It can also refer to the Thai-Chinese relationship as jin is the Thai way of saying "China".

Ying Ying is Chinese for "prosperity", while in Thai ying means a girl.

The 18-day-old baby panda is healthy with its weight jumping from 180 to 810 grammes, according to Chiang Mai Zoo veterinarians.

Meanwhile Zoological Park Organisation director-general Sophon Damnui has asked zoo visitors to avoid having close contact with dogs and cats before they go to the zoo as they could spread viruses to the animals during the flu season.

Dogs and cats are regarded as flu carriers and authorities fear viruses being passed on. People should also wear face masks while visiting the zoo.