San Diego Zoo Blogs

I am happy to say that the day we thought might never arrive has come: elephants Tina and Jewel are cleared from quarantine. No more sanitizing mats, changing our clothes, and washing our hands every few minutes. YEAH! However, don’t expect to see them out right away; the process of introducing them to the rest of the San Diego Zoo’s herd at Elephant Odyssey will take some time. (See post, Elephants Tina and Jewel: Training Progress)
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For those of you who have actually seen the pandas in person when they first start to climb, you know how they can take some trees without difficulty, and some are a little more challenging. Each cub born at the San Diego Zoo has gone through ups and downs when it comes to climbing trees, literally. A cub’s first teacher is, of course, Mom, and here we have Bai Yun. There is a reason her name translates to “white cloud”: she is an excellent climber, and as a young cub she would spend most of her time up the trees.
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As fall has come, so has quiet to the Conrad Prebys Polar Bear Plunge. The management yard is being well used by Chinook. She certainly has her routine down: greet Tatqiq and Kalluk over the moat, find treats, eat treats, dip in pool, roll in dirt, completely cover entire body except for the white fur around eyes, go inside and see what my keeper is up to. Oh, too bad the nice clean bedrooms are now covered with muddy paw prints! Chinook really has perfected the art of the dirt roll! Still no confirmation of pregnancy, but also no behavioral change to indicate she is not pregnant. Our fingers are still tightly crossed.
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There was pandamonium at the San Diego Zoo as we prepared to finally reveal our 104-day-old giant panda cub’s name. For days people kept asking, “So what is his name?” Being one of a handful of people who knew the name at the close of the voting period, I simply smiled and said “You’ll have to wait until the naming ceremony.” I admit, it was a bit of a smug smile. You know the one…the one you can’t hold back when you have a secret that everyone wants to know.
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The excitement is mounting here at the San Diego Zoo as we await our panda cub’s naming day. The naming ceremony will be held at the Zoo on Tuesday, November 17, at 11 a.m. in our Hunte Amphitheater, located just north of the Giant Panda Research Station and across from Big Cat Trail. Special guests will be introduced and remarks from the co-head of the Zoo’s Panda Team and our board president will be made before the name is at last revealed. Please remember: the cub will not be at the ceremony, but I’m sure he’ll enjoy the video clip of the proceedings that will be made available on our Web site later that day!
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Last week we held an online chat between two of our panda keepers and panda fans worldwide. For an added element of fun, we called it a Panda Cub “Shower” and invited those with Facebook accounts to send in their best wishes to panda mother and cub and ask our keepers questions. Those who didn’t have Facebook could still follow the chat on the special Panda Cub Shower Web page of our Web site. And in the tradition of a baby shower, we had a Wish List available for those who wanted to offer a “gift” to our panda family. Panda fans proved themselves to be a generous lot; all of the items on the Wish List were purchased. A giant panda thank you to all!
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The view from our eagle observation point in the Sierra Juarez, Baja California, Mexico. A nest that was occupied last spring is located on the other side of the ridge in the left side of the picture.

I recently traveled with a few colleagues to north-central Baja California, Mexico, to conduct field research for the San Diego Zoo’s Golden Eagle Project (see previous post, Golden Eagle Helicopter Survey). A wind farm is being designed for future development in the Sierra Juarez, and the San Diego Zoo is involved with pre-construction research of habitat use and demographics of golden eagles. The objective of the project is to examine what parts of the mountain range are used by eagles and how and when they use each part. Our findings may help to minimize future interactions between eagles and turbines.
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I lived for more than 10 years without a pet until I got my cat, Austin, two years ago. All of my “cat lady” tendencies that were dormant for all those years resurfaced. I’ll tell you stories about Austin like parents talk about their human children.

But now I can tell you stories about a panda, as if he were my own. Sure, I didn’t get to hold him or touch him, or even get close enough for his eyes to focus on me. But sitting in on the 11th exam of our panda cub was a great experience!
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In my blog post about my time as a keeper (see Pandas: From Both Sides), I had mentioned that Zhen Zhen exhibited some behaviors that were very similar to her father, Gao Gao, and she’s still surprising me. Typical behaviors that I’ve seen are mainly shown right around when she’s about to be fed: when the keepers call her to come inside, she won’t come right in; most of the time she’ll do another lap around her enclosure and then make her way into her bedroom. And then there are her eating habits: she’ll move bamboo far away from where it is put down, and once she’s comfortable she won’t move for anyone.
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The San Diego Zoo’s polar bear Chinook is keeping us all on the edge of our seats. As we move deeper into November, we are yet to see any definitive behavioral or physiological changes that would tell us that Chinook is pregnant…or that she’s not pregnant! With each passing day, we continue to document what she’s doing and how she’s doing it. Chinook’s den is ready, and we are listening to her and providing her with whatever she needs.
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