Progression
Posted at 7:47 am September 23, 2005 by Suzanne HallOur little girl is getting so much bigger, so much more capable now. She has long periods of quiet rest, in which she doesn’t vocalize, but simply sleeps peacefully for stretches up to a few hours in length. It takes a lot of energy to grow as quickly as she is, and just like a human baby she really needs her shut eye!
Bai Yun is out of the den for longer stretches now, feasting on bamboo and resting in other areas of her behind-the-scenes quarters. As I type this, she has access to her bedroom, which is immediately outside the den, as well as a sunroom, garden room, and a stretch of the tunnel. The sunroom is an area with no roof, so she can get fresh air and sunshine, while the garden room has no roof and has a luxurious carpet of fresh grass, grown long during the denning phase when Bai Yun ventured out of the den so infrequently. The tunnel space provides her even more room to move, and is a precursor to the next step: access to her classroom off-exhibit area.
Giving Bai Yun access to the classroom is a bit of a milestone in the postpartum period. Since it’s a lush, complex area with trees and shrubs, climbing structures and ponds, shade and sun, it provides her with many natural substrates and opportunities for exercise. It also allows her to be far from her cub, about a 30-second walk (by panda standards) which offers her the chance to really escape for a time. The chance to climb and exercise will be much needed for Bai Yun’s physical health, as the inactivity of the last few months has left her a bit flabby, but the chance to have a few hours alone will do her some good as well. Any new mom can attest to that!
Suzanne Hall is the panda research technician for the San Diego Zoo’s Office of Giant Panda Conservation.
View Bai Yun and her cub on Panda Cam
See our slideshow images of the cub’s latest exam
See video of the cub’s exams.
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September 23rd, 2005 at 8:04 am
Love these updates. I have a few questions. Where do you get the bamboo for the bears or do you grow it yourselves? Do they take baths or like swimming like some other bears do? What is in the frozen treats you give them and why do they like ” the frozen” aspect of them?
September 23rd, 2005 at 8:18 am
Bai Yun ‘a bit flabby’??? Oh, bless! I’m looking forward to seeing how she goes about getting her figure back – pandaerobics, maybe? ” UP, one, two,three… and DOWN, one, two three – and now the OTHER eyelid….” .
It is such a thrill to watch Bai Yun and her little one, whom my husband and I have nicknamed BP (no prizes for guessing what that stands for!). Bai Yun is a star; because of her there are seven precious new pandas in the world. Keep up the good work, SDZ!
PS How interesting that the majority of panda-maniacs on these boards seem to be female… wonder why that would be?
September 23rd, 2005 at 8:44 am
Tracy,
In response to your questions: we do grow all of our own bamboo for the bears, either here at the zoo or in other places in San Diego. Probably the largest portion is grown up on grounds near the Wild Animal Park. And the pandas do like water… Shi Shi was known to sit in his shallow pool and splash water with his paws on a warm day.
September 23rd, 2005 at 9:42 am
What a treat. The camera was turned on when Bai Yun was outside in her garden room. At that time baby seemed to be trying to walk – she had it together (somewhat) with the front legs but not the back. Baby manages to flip over on her back but with time – all four legs waving and waving, she manages to right herself. Cute.
September 23rd, 2005 at 9:50 am
I was wondering about the ” frozen aspect” of treats too…NZ gives them ” fruitsicles” , and Mei Sheng had a frozen birthday cake.
September 23rd, 2005 at 10:48 am
The baby girl certainly is growing up fast! She seems to get bigger every day. It’s good to hear that Bai Yun is moving around more, and having some space of her own.
I’d be interested in the answer to the ” frozen” questions as well! I wonder if our excellent panda research team has uncovered the mystery behind this?
September 23rd, 2005 at 12:18 pm
This morning when I was watching, Bai Yun was in her garden room, at one time she had her mouth wide open and seemed to be vocalizing at someone or perhaps another panda – what was that all about? I did get a picture (postcard) of her at that instant.
September 23rd, 2005 at 12:46 pm
I love watching that little baby grow like a weed! And her interaction with her mother is so delightful. When I played her first exam my tiny little cat Lilibet Squeekietoy, who is also black and white (my favorite), was trying to occupy the same space on my desk as my computer keyboard (apparently she’s growing up to be a quantum physicist) and when little girl panda made her little panda noises Lilibet was absolutely sure that SOMEBODY was inside the speakers and was determined to see who that little somebody was!
September 23rd, 2005 at 12:53 pm
Do you know how many people tune into pandacam everyday? It’s so wonderful to get a little panda time even in the middle of the night! It’s so soothing!
September 23rd, 2005 at 4:42 pm
Hope we get an answer to the ‘frozen’ question – I’d always assumed it was to make treats last a bit longer against those big sharp teeth! Now you’ve got me wondering, too….
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:33 pm
Thank you Suzanne for all your wonderful information! It is nice to have some questions answered, along with just being able to tell everyone how much we love watching the cam. I think all of us ” Panda Fanatics” need a website just to chat about it! Pictures of baby girl are filling up my files quickly, but I can’t stop. Too Cute!
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:49 pm
Regarding the frozen treats given to the pandas. They come from cool moutainous areas in China. I imagine they are given frozen treats to help them cool off in our hot summer weather.
September 23rd, 2005 at 5:55 pm
Ellen – Maybe she was just yawning.
September 23rd, 2005 at 7:04 pm
the planet is INFLUX. hurricanes and tornadoes and earth-quakes… watching Bai and her wee baby girl makes me feel better in such crazy times. peace and safety to ALL. xox
September 23rd, 2005 at 7:06 pm
I just saw the little cutie wriggling and wriggling…she was belly-up and was trying so hard to flip over! Poor little thing was squealing her head off! Thank goodness mommy came to the rescue…just in time.
What a fantastic mom you are, Bai Yun!
September 23rd, 2005 at 9:46 pm
I’m a guy and I can’t get enough of panda cam. It’s so touching to see animals being a great parent. I’m sure there are many other male panda maniacs that are in the closet. Watching a female panda raising her young is not a testosterone sport.
September 23rd, 2005 at 10:35 pm
We are ardent viewers of the pandamama and the baby in Japan. The fortunate time difference allows us to look into the midnight activities in the den and we are enjoying every second of it! Maybe we’ll go for a visit across the Pacific to meet them come next spring.
September 24th, 2005 at 4:21 am
Thank you so much for the Panda cam. My wife and I feel so lucky to be witness to ” Panda Love” . We have both been wondering though how you remove the baby for her weekly exams without disturbing her mother? Thank you again San Diego Zoo for providing the Panda Cam. It’s beautiful…….
September 24th, 2005 at 6:03 am
I have been watching both SDZ’s baby girl panda and the NZ’s baby boy panda with great interest since their births. What I find most interesting is the difference in physical activity between the two. I’ve noticed that since the beginning, the girl has been very mobile especially when she’s left alone. The boy on the other hand seems pretty content to lie around or shift sleeping positions.
It’s fun to notice the differences in temperament and development between the two. I work with very young children, who also develop different skills at different rates as well as displaying very different personalities from very early on. I was curious to know among Bai Yun’s three cubs what their temperaments and developmental progresses were like and whether they were very different during the first weeks of life.
September 24th, 2005 at 6:17 am
Thank you for the update regarding Bai Yun’s postpartum exercise to regain her svelte figure – she will accomplish this with ease, can imagine her thinking ‘been there done that!’
Taylor inquired if it is known how many people log on to PandaCam daily.
I have no knowledge how SD acquires their statistics, most Web Server Statistics are held by the Webkeeper. This can be in the form of the number of visitors’ domains/countries, times and number of visits etc.- hopefully someone will advise on this point.
I can see the baby girl is attempting to walk, it is not long until she will be playing boisterous games with her mom – I recall Mei Sheng chewing on mom’s ears and often giving her a ‘hard time’.
Kind regards…..Hazel Turnbull
September 24th, 2005 at 9:13 am
HERE SURROUNDINGS AND CHOICES SOUND SO INVITING…I’D ENJOY IT MYSELF… PEOPLE OFTEN FEEL THAT THESE AND OTHER ANIMALS BELONG IN THEIR OWN ENVIRONMENT…WHEN YOU SEE AND READ ALL THAT’S AVAILABLE TO THEM…BEING WELL TAKEN CARE OF, A VARIETY OF AREAS…TASTY FOOD, ETC…THEY ARE LUCKIER THAN IN THEIR OWN ENVIRONMENT, SAFER AND IF THEY COULD SPEAK..HAPPIER…IT MAKES ME WISH WE COULD BRING THEM ALL IN TO THIS WAY OF LIVING.THERE’S NO DOUBT ABOUT IT…YOU’RE A GREAT ” TEAM” AND SHE’S A GREAT MOM…THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL YOU DO…..
September 24th, 2005 at 9:20 am
Just love the pictures of the new baby, we watch her here in Somerset, England and I have got my brother-in-law in Worcestershire ‘hooked’. Wonderful to see how fast she is growing but she is a great ‘time waster’.
September 24th, 2005 at 2:58 pm
After I read comment 19, I now know why DC panda is much bigger than our SD one: He does not want to do exercise! Our SD girl works out a lot!
September 24th, 2005 at 6:18 pm
Hiya Suzanne, Thanks once again for all of the information. It answered my question. Tonight – I’m in UK – I was watching babygirl and she did seem to be on her own for such a long time. I thought ” mmmm, how can I turn off my pc and go to bed and Mum isn’t there with babygirl” ? Now that I know she spends much more time on her own, I can go to bed and rest easy. What am I like hey hee hee !! I had another postcard picture last night and it was superb. Mum looked right up into the air as though she was actually posing for her picture. Superb !! Thanks again for all that you do .
Regards, A very tired Mum and babygirl addict – Valerie Warburton at 3.15 am/25th September in the UK.
September 24th, 2005 at 7:12 pm
What is the latest news on Hua Mei and her babies. Are there any pictures you could put on the San Diego Zoo website? Thank you so much.
September 24th, 2005 at 7:41 pm
Sure looks like Bai Yun has been leaving the den for a much longer period of time. Where and what has she been up to? Thanks for all the footage and hard work. You all are extremely lucky.
September 24th, 2005 at 8:43 pm
Bai Yun definitely was not yawning. She got up from a sitting position, looked into the den, turned around and looked off into the distance, very tense standing position, and opened her mouth wide, neck outstretched. Was vocalizing at someone, something, or another panda.
September 25th, 2005 at 3:20 am
I guess most of the male panda-fanatics keep silence wherever in front of the computer, at the office or school. It’s hard to believe that a guy would talk about watching a panda mother nursing her cub !
September 25th, 2005 at 6:38 am
How interesting!
May I ask a question about Panda baby progress? The baby panda learns everything, such as walking, climbing, based on their own instinct? Will their mom give them some instruction/help? Have Hua Mei and Mei Sheng figured that out themselves (including mimicing their mom), or Bai Yun gave them some help when necessary? (such as give them a lift, push their hind legs, help them balance, etc.)
September 25th, 2005 at 3:27 pm
Any news on Shi Shi or Hua Mei (and her latest cubs). I remember seeing them in 2001 and it was an incredible experience.
September 25th, 2005 at 4:31 pm
I saw Bai Yun stand up amd look straight up towards the cam, too. It did look like she was vocalizing. Soon after that, the door opened, and she walked out of the den.
Love the baby girl, especially when she’s ’swimming’. I watch her FAR TOO MUCH while I’m at work!
September 25th, 2005 at 7:04 pm
I have tuned a couple guys in to the Pandacam at work. It had to happen as I am ooohing and ahhhing at the thing. My hubby even asks how they are doing as we are also watching the little one in DC as well. What a trip!! Makes me want to reach through the screen and cuddle and squeeze them!!
September 26th, 2005 at 5:23 am
I read from a website an interview with a keeper of Beijing Zoo, she said she took bath for their pandas everyday. Do SDZ keepers take bath for the pandas ? If yes, how ?
September 28th, 2005 at 12:28 pm
Re message 33 – Loh, I don’t know about the pandas at SDZ, but Mei and Tian in Washington have an outdoor pool in which they sit and cool off when they get warm. Tian, particularly, seems to enjoy water – he sits and splashes it around, and is also partial to being sprayed with a hosepipe! Sometimes you can see him on the pandacam, hanging around while the keepers hose the yard, waiting for them to play the water jet over him. He gets quite excited, rolling around and pouncing and appears to be having a wonderful time!
I have noticed that the pool to which Bai Yun has access is left dry when her cubs are small – presumably for safety’s sake?
October 1st, 2005 at 5:45 am
Thank you Amanda.
I am not lucky enough to see the scene of Tian enjoying a jet bath !
Espeicially after the birth of the DC boy, the focus of the panda cams are on the cub and Mei.
October 6th, 2005 at 3:29 pm
I noticed that Mom is leaving Baby alone for longer periods of time — five hours yesterday and nearly six hours today. Is this common? Is there any danger of Baby becoming dehydrated or suffering from being left alone for so long? At what point will the Team intervene to nurse Baby or encourage Mom to come back to the den?