Pandas Live on

Team Husar and their wonderful panda photography

Oh, drats its August and Monday and....well that's enough already! 

As I make sure to purchase at least one giant panda calendar each year, this months 2011 WWF calendar and gorgeous photo that was taken by Team Husar.com  helps to remind me of the important things in life, as well as put a smile on my face and I'm sure it will do the same for you.

Team Husar are actually Lisa & Mike Husar who take wildlife photos and this is one of their photos that was featured on the WWF giant panda calendar this year.  Of course, the watermark is not part of the photo on the calendar, but because the calendar photo is so large I would have had to seriously crop it when scanning it, which I didn't want to do. Be sure to check out all of their beautiful photos on their website. Team Husar Wildlife Photography.

Thanks to the WWF and Husars who bring these special moments to us throughout the year. 

A little bit about Team Husar from their website.  

"Lisa & Mike Husar have been capturing unique wildlife images on film since 1993, the year they founded Team Husar Wildlife Photography. Since then, the couple's award-winning photographs have been widely published in magazines, books, calendars, greeting cards, posters, and in the advertising industry. National and worldwide conservation organizations such as World Wildlife Fund, the National Wildlife Federation, the Sierra Club and Defenders of Wildlife regularly feature Team Husar's work in their publications. In addition, the Husar's photography has appeared in the prestigious Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.

Photographing wildlife isn't just a job for this husband and wife team - it's a passion. In addition, Lisa & Mike feel they have an obligation not only to obtain great natural history photos, but also to use those images to help educate people about the importance of human coexistence with the Earth's wild creatures. They are committed to wildlife preservation and actively participate in both local and national conservation organizations. The couple lives in West Bend, Wisconsin."

Panda family in Atlanta

Here is the first set of photos that some of the group have had time to post from last week at Zoo Atlanta.  Will keep video on top, posting new stories beneath it and change it when I can get more fun photos from others.  Enjoy!

Thanks to the following people for their photos, you can click on their flickr names to see more of their great photos. apandalover, Doxiemom19, smileybears, trumpetmom30312, MyAngel27, cloemarie0127, kuku4pandas, saulesmeit, LCNessie.

PandaAtanta is a bustling city

Well, I just got back from my wonderful visit to see the Lun-Yang's at Zoo Atlanta.  What a fun and entertaining family they are.  

Unfortunately, my age is catching up with me and my ability to navigate around the city in my jeep is totally fruitless as I continually got myself and car mates lost each and every night returning from dinner until I yielded to the hotels shuttle on the last night. 

I could blame the heightened excitement of having spent the day with the Lun-Yang's and all the joy their two youngsters Xi Lan and PO brought or being in an amazing city that has so much going on and where southern hospitality is alive and well or maybe I was just mesmerized by that feeling you get when you are with a group of people that you care so much about and together we are all having such a good time its a total distraction. 

Who knows, but I made it home safe and sound last night after the 7 hour drive and now will have to figure out a way to show off all of the photos/videos that the 20+ plus panda fans that descended on the zoo this last week took.

I think what I will do is take the photos/videos that everyone posts and make a short slide show/video of them and then keep that at the top of the website and I can change that with new photos/videos every couple of days as they get posted online.  That way I can continue to post new stories below it as they occur. 

In the meantime, although I am more of a video person here are a couple of my photos (videos to come!) but I do have a couple of videos that Doxiemom19 and smileybears took of Lun and PO.  Enjoy!

Daddy Yang Yang

Mommy Lun Lun getting a brief nap between cub playing


Big Brudder Xi Lan



Six month old PO who tends to sleep alot but when awake will keep you laughing

 

Photos from Panda-Vaganza in San Diego

Thanks to our panda pal, Lee Morris of Facebook, who just returned from the Second Annual Panda Convention at the SDZ with lots of great photos of Gao Gao, Bai Yun and YunZi. 

 

Lee flew down from Canada to be with her favorite pandas and she said that she had a wonderful time at Panda-Vaganza.  Check out the cool t-shirt all the attendees got.

You can view all of Lee's photos by clicking on the link above.  Thanks again Lee and a big Thanks to everyone who was involved at the SDZ in putting together this special weekend for all of us panda fanatics, we really appreciate your taking the time to inform, educate and share you zoo so personally with us.

These next photos are of Daddy, Gao Gao

 

Here are some shots of Momma, Bai Yun

 

And the little youngster, Yun Zi is back stage right now, enjoying some quiet time,
but Lee did get a shot of him from a distance and its pretty cool, because I have never seen this area before. Yun Zi just recently completed being weaned from Bai Yun and the researchers and observers feel Yun Zi is one of the most independent cubs that Bai Yun has ever had.

Mei Xiang update with Ultrasound

"Jessica Siegal-Willott, right, supervisory veterinarian, performs an ultrasound on giant panda Mei Xiang, as animal keeper Juan Rodriguez feeds the panda apples and pears at the National Zoo in Washington, Thursday, March 24, 2011. "She's looking great," says Siegal-Willott, "it's too early to say if she's pregnant or pseudo-pregnant but she's progressing normally for both." Mei Xiang was artificially inseminated in January, and is now having weekly ultrasounds to monitor her condition." (AP Photo) Source: Sulekha.com, News Hopper

Beautiful Mei, we are all wishing you a healthy pregnancy or pseudopregnancy.

Look at this gorgeous face!

Photo by Dan Dan the Binary Man

The special bond between mother and cub, check out Lun and PO

Now that Lun Lun has brought her little male cub PO, out into the day room they have been delighting everyone.


 Here is the most recent update Zoo Atlanta posted.  They are very good at providing regular updates on their panda family and you can find them to the right of the zoo's live pandacam listed as Panda Cub Updates

Wednesday, March 23
Po has started to show more interest in enrichment items that we provide. This week I hung a jolly ball (i.e., 10 inch rubber ball with a handle) on the hammock in the day room. For the first hour he ignored and avoided it. But after a short nap he decided to investigate it. I guess he decided it was an ok item to play with because he chewed on it and tumbled over it for about 20 minutes until Lun Lun appeared for a nursing session. Keep an eye out for other items that we provide to keep him and all of the pandas enriched.
Kate Roca
Carnivore Keeper III

Thanks to the many people who are keeping up with PO and posting their photos/videos on the internet so we can enjoy watching him grow.

Video Titled: PO and Lun move toward by Lundell14 of YouTube

Video Titled: Da Ins and Outs of Da Hammock by LCNessie of YouTube. You can also catch screencaps/shorter videos on their flickr site.

     Video titled: PO in a Corner by DoxieMom19 of YouTube.   You can also catch screencaps/shorter videos  on their flickr site. 

 Titled: Sleepy cub PO by SmileyBears of YouTube. You can also catch photos/videos on their flickr site.

Hello there, Tian Tian and Mei Xiang

Dan Dan the Binaryman, of flickr stopped by the National Zoo this past Sunday and came back with some great photos of Mei and Tian, parents of Tai Shan. 

I don't know if you heard about Tian's ear looking a little strange on the webcams one day last week, creating alot of questions among pandas fans.  It doesn't look like an injury of any kind but more like it was shaven for some reason by the zoo.  Until we hear from the zoo through one of their updates, I can't say for sure what it is all about.  You will see it show up in those photos that feature Tian's right side.

Titled, 'Hey Tian Tian'
  enjoying a piece of apple

Amazing the length of fur on the tips of their ears!

Tian wants to know what everyone is looking at?

Tian cruising the yard

Titled "Love the way he is holding his bamboo"

This photo of Tian was taken on March 15

Titled 'Love Mei Xiangs eyes'
Beautiful Mei came down to the front of the yard to welcome their fans
and Daniel was their to capture it!

Titled 'Bamboo is Yummerful'
We will have to wait until later this summer to see if Mei will
have a cub this year

Mei Xiang and Tian Tian taking to the trees

I was so happy to hear the National Zoo was able to negotiate an extended stay at the zoo for Mei and Tian a little longer, although, we still don't have a definitive date on how long. 

The zoo is monitoring Mei to see if she will come into estrus.  Here is their latest blog post, dated January 13, 2011. 

"There has been no significant progression of estrus behavior from Mei Xiang this week. On January 8, Mei bleated once in the morning and then had a restless day with frequent scent marking. None of this behavior was repeated during the week. Mei Xiang’s estrogen levels remain at baseline. Tian Tian has had another consistent week of rut behaviors.

Yesterday, a light snow coated everything in crystalline white to interrupt the pace of life at the panda house. While keepers struggled to move bamboo and keep warm, the pandas did their best to wrap themselves around the meager snowfall. They rolled and tumbled on the hills, the snow providing an exhilarating coating of renewal to their usual habitat haunts. We were all privileged guests, watching their inner cub emerge again. While watching their fun in the snow, that fleeting moment of civility, peace, and beauty knows no words."

In the meantime, it looks like Tian is ready whenever Mei is. Thanks to Dan Dan the Binary Man of  flickr who has been visiting with Mei and Tian, capturing what they have been up to and it looks like tree climbing has been one of their winter activities.

We can see Tian scent marking one of the trees in his yard, one of the rutting behaviors the zoo was talking about along with his dismount.   Mei also took to the trees on another day but it isn't the same one that Tian had marked, although as high as Tian placed his scent mark, I'm sure Mei picked it up.  Interesting how animals communicate. 

Great captures, Daniel.  Be sure to visit their flickr page at the link above to see more photos of them.

Here's Mei, enjoying the snowfall from a higher perspective and showing off
her climbing abilities.