Pandas Live on

Xi Lan of Zoo Atlanta celebrates his 1st Birthday!

Sunday, August 30th, 2009, marked Xi Lan's first birthday at Zoo Atlanta.  The keepers put together a very special multi-layered 'ice cake' with sweet potato's inside along with some papermache' balloons

Thanks to bob2cleo who was there to see the celebration first hand, they brought back some great videos and photos of the party.  It didn't take him long to get into the festivities.    

Thanks so much, to the panda keepers and staff that do such a great job of caring for this panda family. Not only have they done a magnificent job of raising two cubs with their adults, but they have produced a tremendous amount of research that will undoubtedly contribute to the longevity of giant pandas for generations to come. Be sure to show your support for this valuable program and participate in their - Give So They Stay organization!

Xi Lan is the second panda cub born to Lun Lun at Zoo Atlanta.  Lun had Mei Lan, on September 6, 2006, she is still at the zoo but is scheduled to go to China sometime this year or first of 2010 to participate in the breeding program there.  Yang Yang is the father of both cubs who were born through artificial insemination. 

Check out Fu Long's 2nd birthday celebration! UPDATED

We have another video that Jola, who has a wonderful panda blog called Pandas, Pandas, Pandas.

I wanted to be sure and share it with you since Fu will be going to China at the end of this year and we won't have the chance to see him as often then. Be sure to go to follow the link above, so you can see the whole collection of Fu and Yang photos, enjoying the big ice birthday cake.

Thanks, Jola for sharing these with us.

Fu Long who lives at the Vienna Zoo in Austria just recently, August 23, 2009, celebrated his 2nd birthday.  Thanks to the keepers at the zoo, they provided him with a fancy 'ice cake' that included a huge #2 to commemorate this special day. 

Thanks to Lupoforme of You Tube, who went and recorded this special event for us to enjoy.  Thanks for sharing this sweet moment, Lupo.  I loved watching Fu keeping an eye on his mom to see what she was doing with 'his' cake! 

Beautiful Mei Xiang of the Smithsonian National Zoo

We all have images in our heads of giant pandas sitting and eating bamboo, seemingly oblivious to those of us who stop by to see them.  But for those who go to see the pandas on a regular basis, through their photos, they give us a chance to see a more personal side of these gorgeous animals. 

Take a look at these wonderful photos that Unka Bobby, as he is known on flickr, got of Mei Xiang who just turned 11 years old in July and who has a four year old son, Tai Shan.  You can't tell me, when you look at these photos, that  her inner and outer beauty don't reach out and touch you.  Thanks, Bobby for sharing these great photos.   

 

 

Panda, Animal & Nature film week starts in Ya'an, China

Second China International Animal and Nature Film Festival  starts tomorrow, August 19 and runs through the 25th.  The website is touting it as Panda, Animal & Nature week. 

"The International Animal & Nature Film Festival in China is aimed at showing the films about the Nature (documentaries, fiction, education, animation...), especially those related to animals, and the relationship between animals and nature. It is also intended to sensitize the media, officials, and the general public to protect the environment and nature."

They have a video that introduces the festival by showing clips of the people from Ya'an, its culture, its famous 'Sichuan Cuisine' and tea fields.  Along with that video, they also put together a couple of other videos showing panda cubs including  sound, so you can hear the cubs as they wrestle and play.

They have 20 films they will be showing, from Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Hungary, Netherlands, New Zealand, Iran, Swiss, UK and U.S. 

All of this coincides with the 140th anniversary of the introduction of the giant panda by Pere Jean Pierre Armand David a French Catholic missionary who first discovered the giant panda in 1869. 

Pere proved himself to be a serious plant collector for France, sending many samples from China back to Paris, designing ways to preserve them with glass jars and wooden boxes. 

He was taking a break from one of his excursions across China, when a landowner invited him in for some tea.  Inside, he discovered the skin of a giant panda hanging from the wall.  Intrigued with this, he arranged to have hunters bring one back for him.  They returned with a panda but they had killed it to make it easier for them to transport.  He asked them to return with a live one. It is disputed as to what became of the live giant panda that Pere had obtained but it was he who first alerted the world of its existence by sending photos of it back to Paris. 

A hike was set up for those panda lovers to retrace Pere's famous trek.  Twenty brave souls from around the country departed from the West China Medical School of Sichuan University in Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan. 

They passed health checks before the 350-km (over 217 miles) journey that will not only provide beautiful scenery but also steep, dangerous mountain paths.   

They began their trek on Saturday, 15th of August and are expected to arrive at the Ya'an Bifengxia Breeding Base of the CCPPRC, China Giant Panda Protection and Research Center of the Wolong Nature Reserve, on August 25, 2009.  

If only I was so, so young again, I would have loved to make that hike myself.  This may be an event to plan a trip around for next year. 

It's Pandas and "Pandamonium" Flavored Ice Cream at Atlanta Zoo

Xi Lan

By Keisha Hines-Davis Atlanta, GA - There’s a scoop of sweet news for Atlanta’s giant panda fans and ice cream lovers. Jake’s Ice Cream introduces “Pandamonium,” an all-new flavor created exclusively to support Zoo Atlanta’s Give So They Stay campaign. A delectable fusion of Sencha green tea, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg with a sweet cream base, “Pandamonium” is the brainchild of Kyle Rosen, who designed the recipe, and John Gandy, who suggested that Zoo Atlanta earn a portion of proceeds generated by each scoop sold.

Both Rosen and Gandy are participants in Jake’s Ice Cream’s SunTrust summer internship program. “This is a dream come true for me. I’m a lifelong lover of the Zoo,” said Jake Rothschild, founder of Jake’s Ice Cream. “I’m overjoyed by the chance to partner with such an amazing organization.” Mixed for the first time on July 28, “Pandamonium” is available at 660 Irwin Street in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward and at Jake’s Just Desserts at 2144 North Decatur Road.

The newest addition to Jake’s award-winning lineup of homemade offerings has received a very enthusiastic response thus far, according to Rothschild. “Like the Zoo, Jake’s is a beloved local institution known for giving back to the community,” said Marcus E. Margerum, Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Zoo Atlanta. “We are excited about this partnership and this is another way Atlantans can help keep giant pandas in our city.”

To date, Zoo Atlanta has collected over $66,000 in support of the Give So They Stay campaign, which continues through December 31, 2009. Giant panda friends are encouraged to stay tuned to givesotheystay.org for ongoing updates and announcements on new ways to help.  --Zoo and Aquarium Visitor

Thanks to pandapal, Lee Morris of Facebook for sending this our way!

Keeping up with Bai Yun and her 5th panda cub

The San Diego Zoo is helping us to keep up with how momma Bai Yun and her now 10-day-old panda cub are doing. 

You can read updates provided by the zoo's blog site along with the video collection they are building that is showing the cubs progress.  Best of all you can watch Bai and her cub live with their live webcam. 

Here is the latest video the zoo put together showing Bai leaving her den area to eat.  What makes this video so special is, it has sound and you can hear the young cub cry out to Bai.  Notice how quietly Bai Yun leaves and enters the den.  Also, all of the pieces of bamboo that you see in the den were shredded by Bai Yun in preparation for the birth of her cub.

Panda Poems by Pam

I am adding a wonderfully new segment to the sidebar.  As the title suggests, if you scroll down just about halfway down you will see the box that will now carry panda poems by Pam, a very special person who has a terrific talent for poetry. 

Thank You PamG of flickr for allowing me to share your very heartfelt poems with us here.

 

Sweet panda cub Lin Bing takes to the camera, a star is born!

While Lin Bing, the 77 day old cub at the Chiang Mai Zoo in Thailand, gets her regular check up and measurements, a photographer got some really nice close ups of her.  Lin is the first cub for Lin Hui, her mother and father Chuang Chuang.

 

OMG, cute overload!