Pandas Live on

Chengdu Panda Base is looking for volunteers

Wanted: volunteers to get up close and personal with China's pandas

by Jane Macartney in Beijing from the TimesOnline

For anyone who dreams of getting up close and personal with a giant panda, now is your chance.

China’s main breeding station has issued a call for 30 volunteers from around the world to help to care for its pandas during the Chinese new year holidays when a flood of tourists is expected.

The temporary recruits to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding, in Sichuan province, will be welcome to work with the pandas between February 14 — the first day of the Year of the Tiger — and February 28, which marks the end of the lunar new year festival.

However, the offer is not open to just anyone. The endangered panda a national treasure in China and must be carefully handled. Only about 1,600 pandas still survive in the wild in China. To be eligible, any would-be volunteer worker must be aged between 18 and 45 and have a college degree, the research base said. Fluent spoken English would also be considered a bonus.

One official at the base said that there were several reasons for the call for recruits. The base was forecasting a deluge of tourists over the new year holiday, he said, and “our own staff will be insufficient and we need more hands on deck. Plus, it’s a good opportunity to popularise knowledge about pandas and to draw more attention to their protection”.

Visitors to the base, home to about 45 giant pandas, usually have little chance to get too close to the cuddly, but sleepy, animals. They are usually to be glimpsed dozing in tree branches or inside their shelters. Even the babies are really only lively at feeding time. After a breakfast of carrots, apples and milk the toddlers roll about and play for a while before drifting off into corners to slumber.

The official said: “For many people, it will be a rare opportunity to be with the pandas and to take care of them. It will be a memorable experience.”

Recruits will have to pay their own way, making it likely that most will be tourists already travelling in China. The base will provide meals during working hours.

The duties will not be arduous. The official said: “The volunteers don’t need to have a huge knowledge of pandas. The most important thing is an animal-loving heart. We will give them basic training.”

However, becoming a volunteer does not guarantee a chance to cuddle a baby panda — a privilege for which visitors pay as much as 1,000 yuan (£90) for just five minutes of playtime.

The official added: “They will be given simple jobs, like distributing gifts to children and cleaning the panda enclosures.” It was not known if any recruit would win the coveted job of working with the cubs.

Mei Lan and Tai Shan's trip to China

-Talk about service -- a huge new airplane with your own logo on the side, only eight people on board, including your doctor, a member of the opposite sex right beside you and more than 50 pounds of your favorite food available "on demand." -

Its pretty amazing to see how much work and detail is involved to ensure Mei and Tai's safe journey to China along with the final sendoff events that the zoo's have set up for those who wish to see them one last time. 

Both Zoo Atlanta and the National Zoo will be holding events tomorrow, January 30, 2010 with raffles and other special activies, be sure to go to the zoo's websites to see the details.

Both pandas who went through extensive physical exams before being cleared to travel, will be leaving on February 4th, 2010.  For Mei Lan, she will be trucked to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport by a FedEx convoy. There, she’ll board what’s being dubbed the “FedEx Panda Express” – a new 777 Freighter with super-sized panda decals on both sides of the nose – and fly to Washington, Dulles Airport.  Tai Shan will be coaxed into the travel crate early in the morning, loaded onto a truck and driven about 9 to the airport with a police escort.

Safe inside custom-built transport containers, the pandas will depart Washington in the late morning Thursday and arrive in Chengdu, China in late afternoon Friday.

Both Mei and Tai will be accompanied by their own keepers and veterinarians, who have taken care of them over the years.  Mei Lan's keeper will be Heather Roberts.  Roberts said she was sure she’d shed tears in the end. "She’s our baby, our first baby," the keeper said. "Although we’re very excited for her, it will be sad. It will be hard to say goodbye.”   Tai Shan's keeper, Nicole Reese has been Tai's trainer since he was 6 months old, talks about the special bond that she and Tai have developed on the video that the Washington Post put together. 

Each of the keepers will be staying in China with them for about a week to ease their transitions.  Keepers have already been assigned for them in China and are anxiously awaiting for their arrival. 

They will each be kept in a special transportation crate, built by FedEx of steel bars and clear plastic, that is about eight feet long, four feet wide and five feet high.  Plenty of bamboo, fruit and water will be with them during their journey.

FedEx will be taking them nonstop from Washington to Chengdu and should take 14 ½ hours.  It will be 8,642-mile airplane journey taking them out over the Atlantic Ocean, across northern Europe and Russia, and on to Chengdu, China, said Ed Coleman, a spokesmen for FedEx, which is donating the flight and other logistical services.

The aircraft -- capable of holding 300 people when configured for human passengers -- will be mostly empty, with the pandas and people occupying only the front quarter of the aircraft. The plane cruises at 39,000 feet and 630 mph.

The pandas will be in a heated, pressurized cargo compartment behind the passengers, and the keepers and veterinarians will have easy access to the animals.

Officials said the long trip requires four pilots on board, working in two-person shifts. In addition to the zoo staff, veterinarians  and a FedEx load master will be along.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

Arrival is set for the afternoon of Feb. 5. Once in Chengdu, Tai Shan will be taken by truck on a 2 1/2 -hour drive to the Bifengxia Panda Base just outside the city of Ya'an.  Mei Lan will be going to the Chengdu Panda Base which is not far from the airport and both will undergo a 30 day quarantine. 

Good luck to both Mei and Tai, I look forward to seeing you both again one day in China.

Sources for the information on this post were AFP and the Washington Post. Thank You to daniel.techie and bob2cleo who have provided the wonderful photos over the years of Tai Shan and Mei Lan. We have really appreciated the time and effort you have taken to get to the zoo and capture them with your photos and then returned home to upload them so that we could experience their lives through your eyes.

As a side note, I will have new information concerning Su Lin of the San Diego Zoo on whether she will or will not be going to China, coming up in a day or two.

Official date set for Tai Shan and Mei Lan to leave

National Zoo's panda Tai Shan to return to China on Feb. 4

By Jacqueline E. Trescott and Michael E. Ruane

Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, January 25, 2010; 5:41 PM

After four years, six months and four weeks as the National Zoo's reigning prince of bears, Tai Shan, Washington's beloved giant panda, will be leaving the place of his birth Feb. 4, Smithsonian Institution officials said Monday.

Nine weeks after the zoo announced that, according to a prior agreement with China, Tai Shan would be heading to that country to enter a breeding program, officials have worked out the complex details of his departure, route and exact destination.

Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough, saying the news was "bittersweet," said Tai will be traveling on a FedEx flight with a panda traveling to China from a zoo in Atlanta. The nonstop flight is scheduled to depart early in the morning from Dulles International Airport.

A huge goodbye bash for Tai Shan is scheduled for Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the zoo. Zoo veterinarians, nutritionists and reproductive scientists will talk about the care of Tai Shan, and his parents, Mei Xiang and Tian Tian. Partygoers will be able to write panda "memory cards," examine the route Tai Shan will take to China and view a photo showcase of his life since he was born at the zoo four years ago.

The zoo announced Dec. 4 that the now adolescent Tai Shan would be heading to China as part of the agreement that brought his parents to the National Zoo. Various permits and clearances had to be obtained. Transportation had to be arranged, and the route chosen. That has now been accomplished. More details will be announced later in the week.

Tai's last public viewing day will be Feb. 3.

And his fans are heartbroken.

The joys of observing Giant Pandas

These next couple of weeks will zip by I'm sure.  It always does when an impending event is about to take place that I'm not particularly excited about, you know like going to the dentist.  It's necessary,  but ugh! 

Through the marvel of live webcams, photos and stories from fellow panda fans who make it to see the pandas and the experience of my own visits, I have been on a fun journey observing three giant pandas from the first days of their lives through to an up-and-coming day when Su Lin of the San Diego Zoo, Mei Lan of the Zoo Atlanta and Tai Shan of the National Zoo, will be leaving for China. 

I have to count myself as being blessed to witness the transformation these three have gone through, following them from the day they were born to watching them grow and becoming more confident with each passing year. 

It was amazing to watch them as they astutely observed their moms while she taught them the skills needed to handle and eat the different parts of the bamboo stalk for sustenance.  Playful romps, wrestling matches and tree climbing adventures were other lessons that the cubs would partake in not knowing they would translate into life saving skills for them later on.  

Now, as they reach adulthood, it is time for them to take their own place in this world as part of this unique species.

Thanks to all of the wonderful people in the U.S. who have worked so closely with these three that we have been able to learn more about these gentle giants through their observations that they have shared through scientific reports, blogs and cam monitoring. 

I will miss Su, Mei and Tai, I can't deny that and I hope to be able to keep up with them in the future. 

Looks like making that trip to China will become a reality now. 

In the meantime, if you want to see one of them before they leave for China, you should try to stop by and see them within the next couple of weeks.  

Thanks to jdbartross, daniel.techie and ajay77*, and bob2cleo all of flickr for the trip down memory lane with the photos of Su Lin, Mei Lan and Tai Shan, when they were still just cubs and more recent photos.

Brown and White pandas, is it caused by inbreeding?

Here is an interesting article posted by dnaindia.com that talks about the recent find of brown and white panda cubs in the Foping Reserve and how this could be an indication of inbreeding.  Here is the complete article. 

RARE SIGHTING OF BROWN AND WHITE PANDA MAY POINT TOWARD INBREEDING

London: The recent sighting of an extremely rare giant panda with brown and white fur is raising fears that the species may be suffering from inbreeding.

In November 2009, a staff member at the Foping Nature Reserve in China's Qinling Mountains - one of the panda's last remaining strongholds - spotted a panda with the unusual colouring.

It was estimated to weigh around 2 kg, which would suggest it was less than 2 months old at the time.

This is only the seventh such animal spotted in the region over the past 25 years, Tiejun Wang, a spatial ecologist in the Department of Natural Resources at the University of Twente in Enschede, the Netherlands, told Nature News.

But the explanation for this unusual variety remains a mystery.  "It's time we had a debate about what is causing this because it could be telling us something very important," said Wang.  Wang and his Twente colleague Andrew Skidmore are concerned that the brown-and-white form indicates that breeding between closely related pandas is becoming more common.

Each panda has two versions, or alleles, of each of its genes, one inherited from its mother and one from its father. Wang suggested that the Qinling pandas carry a dominant gene for black fur and a recessive gene for brown fur.  This means that pandas with brown-and-white fur are only possible when they inherit the recessive brown gene from both mother and father.

The chances that both parents have the brown allele are ordinarily very low, suggested Wang.  But the coincidence would be much more likely if the pandas were closely related.  "The habitat in the Qinling Mountains is seriously fragmented and the population density is very high," said Wang.

"The brown pandas could be an indication of local inbreeding," he added.

Conservationists worry about such inbreeding because it means that more animals rely on the same set of genetic defences to overcome environmental threats, increasing their risk of extinction.

According to Wang, brown-and-white pandas have only been seen in the Qinling population, one of five mountain regions where pandas still live in the wild.  Qinling is home to around 300 animals, roughly one-sixth of the total panda population in the wild.

The first recorded brown-and-white panda - a female called Dan-Dan - was discovered in 1985.  She was taken into captivity, mated with a black-and-white animal and gave birth to a normal black-and-white male.  A few years later, another brown-and-white panda was seen in the wild, together with its black-and-white mother.

"These anecdotal observations strongly suggest the presence of a recessive gene or genes," said Wang.

Panda International's 10th Anniversary Celebration!

Everyone is invited to join in A Black and White Extravaganza to help raise funds for Panda International on February 20, 2010.  It is taking place at The Wildlife Experience 10035 South Peoria Street, Parker, Colorado 80134.

If you are unable to make it to the event yourself, you can still donate auction items like a nice bottle of wine for their Wine Garden, or perhaps you are an artist or photographer who would like to donate an item.  Tell your friends about it so they can participate in person or through the Pandas International website .

On the website you can make reservations, check out the auction items that you can bid on through proxy and donate auction items even if you can't attend!  All proceeds from this event will benefit Pandas International and the Bamboo Reforestation Project. 

There is much work that needs to be done to prevent giant pandas from extinction and donating to Pandas International is one sure way to help the pandas directly.

Thanks to Suzanne Braden of Pandas International, who brought back these photos during her 2009 annual trip to the China Conservation and Research Centers for Giant Pandas in Ya'an, China.

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How did the giant panda get their markings?

The Adelaide Zoo has a cute video on their website that is a animation of a children's picture book, called The Way of the Panda.  I wanted to share it with you here.  

They just released a photo of the panda team that are responsible for Wang Wang and FuNi, so I've posted it before the video. Best of luck to all of you!

 

Busy day for National Zoo pandas

Many people are planning special trips to see Tai Shan who will be leaving soon to go to China.  This crate in the photo below, is the one they will be using to transport Tai in.  It is set up in Yard 1 at the National Zoo to "feed and train him in it so he is familiar with and habituated to it."

In regards to Tai Shan's leaving, the zoo has announced they are hosting a Friends of the National Zoo Farewell to Tai Shan event on Saturday, January 30, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Details will be posted on their website soon.  They do have a FAQ site devoted to Tai Shan's leaving so be sure to check that out. 

 A little later in the morning we saw Mei and Tian, Tai's parents, together and it looks like Mei has come into what is an early estrus for her.  We don't know if Mei and Tian were successful in their mating so we will probably hear from the zoo that they will be doing AI (artificial insemination) very soon if not tonight.  

Thanks to Daniel.techie of flickr who was at the zoo today and captured photos of all of the pandas at the National Zoo today.  I have also included a short video showing Mei and Tian from today.

 

'Son of Cloud', Yun Zi is all ready to meet you

Check out these videos that the press put out on Yun's media event that took place today at the San Diego Zoo.  Tomorrow will be the first day that the public will have a chance to see him in the outdoor exhibit area.  I couldn't get over how active he was and climbing trees already.  I have to get used to the pronouciation of his name.  It sounds like they cut it off at the z on the end.   

Bai Yun is quite the mom, you know.  This is the fifth cub she has had over the course of 10 years at the San Diego Zoo.  Congratulations Bai Yun and to the staff at the zoo who have done such a fantastic job with their panda family.

Ya Ya keeps us guessing until March 2010

The Commercial Appeal out of Memphis, Tennessee reports Ya Ya from the Memphis Zoo was artificially inseminated this last Thanksgiving, so with her Gestation period being around 120 days, we will see sometime in March if she will have her first cub. 

Thanks to Daniel.techie of flickr who went to the National Zoo and came back with these great shots of Tai Shan today.

I watched Tai on the cam for awhile this morning, while he thoroughly enjoyed one of his favorite treats a fruitsicle.  Once he finished his fruity, I turned off the cam to take care of some chores, but now I wish I had stayed by the cams.  Tai went for romp afterwards and ended up playing with a well decomposed dead-fall in his yard.  Daniel was there to capture it.  That's our Tai!

Thanks so much vwatts for telling us about the video on youtube by pegasus1787, it follows the photos.