Of Pandas and Polars…
Posted at 3:13 pm March 22, 2006 by Cindy Spiva-Evans
The San Diego Zoo’s Girls In Science (GIS) had the glorious good fortune to spend a couple of afternoons this past week with JoAnne Simerson””panda keeper and animal trainer extraordinaire!
JoAnne has worked for the San Diego Zoo for 17 years in various incarnations, but has focused primarily on animal husbandry training and enrichment. The GIS were fortunate to be able to watch JoAnne’s training session with Mei Sheng, the Zoo’s 2-year old male panda (and big brother of Su Lin). She explained the process of capturing behaviors and rewarding the ones she wants. Mei Sheng has learned that a click, called a bridge, means ” good job” and is quickly followed by a food reward. He is such a smart cookie, in fact, that he was doing all sorts of things for JoAnne, even when she wasn’t asking for those specific behaviors!
We followed up the panda training session with a quick slide show and a discussion about training in general, and polar bears more specifically. Training animals for husbandry purposes helps to lessen their stress when certain procedures (such as weighing them, looking at their teeth, or drawing their blood) need to occur. When animals are trained for these procedures, rather than anesthetized, they are much less stressed each time an exam takes place, and are much healthier and happier as a result.
JoAnne and the polar bear keepers have been asked to participate in a study in hopes of learning what precisely polar bears can hear. In order to find this out, they first had to figure out how to rig a polar bear ” head set” and how to ascertain whether or not the polar bears could hear each sound that was presented to them. After some very creative construction and teaching the polar bears to stick out their tongues, they are ready to get started. The bears will need to be exposed to upwards of 15,000 different tones before we will have a rough idea as to their hearing abilities. All four of the Zoo’s polar bears will participate in the study, as will the polar bears from SeaWorld San Diego.
A big thanks to JoAnne and senior keeper Kathy Hawk for taking time out of their days to accommodate our group of future researchers! We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!
Cindy Spiva-Evans is an educator at the San Diego Zoo.
Girls In Science is a program for Roosevelt Middle School girls which creates science-based experiences with professional women at the San Diego Zoo. The program is funded through the generosity of the Wells Fargo Foundation.
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March 22nd, 2006 at 3:36 pm
An afternoon with Mei Sheng! How lucky you are! I have read that Mei has learned that certain behaviors will elicit food rewards and will perform those behaviors without prompting to get the treats. Wonder who is training whom?
March 23rd, 2006 at 10:48 am
I would LOVE to see a video of training Mei Sheng!!! Could this be made possible??
March 23rd, 2006 at 11:53 am
Mei Sheng is a very docile momma’s boy, I had never seen him chewing on Bai Yun like Tai Shan does to his mom.
March 23rd, 2006 at 1:48 pm
Tai Shun is so different from Mei Sheng. Tai is much more active and ” rough.” Su Lin is also much calmer than Tai. I have enjoyed watching all 3 of them. I would also like to see more of the lion cub, Koza, and his dog companion, Cairo.
March 23rd, 2006 at 2:08 pm
Thanks, Suzanne, for the info on ” handstand” scent-marking. The photo of Mei Sheng with JoAnne is terrific. What a big, handsome guy he is!
Also, about 6 a.m. San Diego time today, I saw Bai Yun and Su Lin rolling around with abandon in the lair. Bai Yun finally walked away. But Su Lin kept coming back for a while and flinging herself on whatever was inside and around the outside. Was new dirt placed there?
March 23rd, 2006 at 3:20 pm
Hi Everyone,
I just love these blogs and all the info that comes with them. I’m going to San Diego in April to visit all the wonderful pandas; my favorite is Mei Sheng, of course, cause he’s the first panda I ever saw. I definitely love Bai, Su Lin, and natually adore Gao Gao. I’ll also be going on the San Diego Zoo’s China Panda Tour and can’t wait!!! I’ll never get enough of pandas. Thanks for the picture of Mei Sheng; he’s so handsome. I was wondering if the keepers can ever go in the exhibit with Mei Sheng when they give food and treats or now that he’s all grown up they can’t be close to him anymore? ALSO SPECIAL THANKS TO THE WHOLE STAFF THAT GIVES THEM EXCELLENT CARE AND GIVES US ALL THIS GREAT INFORMATION ABOUT THEM. IT SURE IS GREAT!
THANKS AGAIN, MICHELLE C
March 23rd, 2006 at 3:32 pm
I’m really glad I started girls in science. It’s really educating but still fun at the same time. When I first started I thought it would be really boring but it turned out to be really fun. So I’m really happy my mom forced me to join an afterschool program.
March 23rd, 2006 at 3:52 pm
Bai Yun seems to be a much gentler mother with Su Lin than we see with Tai Shan and Mei Xiang, possibly because Mei is a good deal younger than Bai. As another poster on one of these message boards pointed out, Mei Xiang is only a year older than Hua Mei!. Mei certainly roughhouses with Tai and has taught him to give as good as he gets – biting, chasing, playing ” king of the hill” as he climbs on limbs above his mother, who promptly pushes him off onto the ground. Did Bai treat Hua Mei and Mei Sheng as gently as she does Su Lin?
March 23rd, 2006 at 4:18 pm
Mei Sheng is also my favorite! I’m glad that the Girls In Science club got to watch the training session with Mei Sheng:)
March 23rd, 2006 at 9:00 pm
Martha, (#8) I also see a difference in the momma behaviors of Bai and Mei. Mei seems to like and initiates more physical contact with Tai than Bai does with Su Lin. Mei probably has more energy as a young first-time mom and this is a new experience for her. Tai is her ” enrichment” toy. It amazes me how patient Mei is when Tai climbs all over her and chews her ears, and anything else he can grab. A few days ago he was trying to get to her fruitsicle and she just calmly sat there licking while he was really hasseling her.
March 23rd, 2006 at 11:07 pm
About all these comparisons between Bai & Mei Xiang-
I think what people forget to take in account is the video feed both zoos provide. The San Diego feed doesn’t exactly show what the pandas are doing in real time. They show images every 2 seconds, so the pause might not give you the most accurate picture.
I’m willing to bet if we saw Bai & Su Lin in real time, we would see Bai roughhousing with her too. I haven’t noticed that Mei is any rougher with Tai than Bai is with her kids.
Don’t get me wrong, I love the SD videos but I think people have to remember that there are pauses in the action. If you’ve ever seen a store security camera with the same ” pause” effect, you’ll notice that it does look different from live action.
Of course if I’m totally off base, any of the Zoo staff can correct me.
March 24th, 2006 at 8:14 am
Hi Michelle C. I’m looking forward to meeting you in the San Francisco Airport, before we leave for China. It’ll be fun to meet folks who have been on this blog. I’m counting the days until we see live pandas. Won’t that be something?! Especially if they’ll let us hold one.
March 24th, 2006 at 11:49 am
It is truly amazing the sense of balance that both cubs have! I swear they must have velcro somewhere on their chubby little bodies. Tai’s favorite tree is such a skinny, springy little thing, and he bounces around on it as if it’s a king size bed. And if you’re real lucky, you will be thoroughly entertained when you see his mom, Mei Xiang, climb up in it and cavort around. Her weight bending it almost double. I love both sites, I love this blog site, and I think that this whole panda watching thing is the best medicine in the world, to anyone who is lonely, depressed, or otherwise. It gives such a warm, loving feeling to watch them. Ya just can’t stop saying A-W-W-W-W-W. Thank you! Thank you!
March 24th, 2006 at 1:07 pm
I find myself making comparisons between Tai Shan and Su Lin and Mei Xiang and Bai Yun and I think I do it to try to understand the pandas’ behaviors rather than to make value judgements that Tai is ” better” or ” smarter” or ” cuter” than Su or vice versa or that Mei is a ” better” mom than Bai. In trying to understand their behaviors I keep reminding myself that the pandas’ habitats are very different from one another, that the mothers’ maturity both in terms of age and motherhood experience are different, that Tai is a male panda and Su is female. The zoos’ philosophies or attitudes about their charges also differ somewhat. Then, of course, is the viewing factor–I live in Virginia and get to see Tai at different times and more frequently than I do Su. The camerawork is different–I get two views of Tai and one of Su. So I don’t get the entire picture of what appears to be a very complex equation. But when I watch these bears I find that my own opinions or experiences about gender and motherhood do come into play, and while I enjoy all four bears, I find myself preferring one behavior or another. I suppose at the end of the day, what I need to remember is that each one of these bears is an individual, with a personality, expressions and needs all his/her own. I enjoy each one of them and will continue to marvel at their ability to make me smile. C. Johnson
March 24th, 2006 at 1:35 pm
I recently saw a picture of two black bears with white half-circles high on their chests. They were narrow, white bands which seemed to come to a V in the middle of their chests. There was no other places, on their bodies, where there was white. It struck me that this was almost the opposite of the Giant Pandas. Suzanne, what type bears were these? Is there some closely related genes with the Giant Pandas?
March 24th, 2006 at 3:54 pm
The panda was so cute:) I love how humans are being able to be understood by animals.
March 24th, 2006 at 4:19 pm
Lady #15,
It sounds to me like you are describing either an Asiatic black bear or a sloth bear. If the face was also pale, the color of the chest marking, and the coat was very shaggy, it was probably a sloth bear.
March 24th, 2006 at 8:58 pm
I know that giant pandas are now ” bears” . I’m curious about the connection between bears and cats. I ask, because my 2 cats exhibit much of the same behavior(s) as do Su Lin and Tai Shan. Baby want to be with mommy…baby follows mommy…mommy calls, baby comes (sometimes). Mommy sleeps, baby…zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
March 25th, 2006 at 11:55 am
Suzanne, do female pandas go into estrus even when they are nursing a cub? I’ve noticed a lot of restless behavior and bleating from Tian Tian at the NZ and wonder if he is reacting to hormonal changes in the nearby Mei Xiang. Or do the males just act this way due to their own hormonal changes in the springtime? Thanks again for paying such close attention to all our questions.
March 25th, 2006 at 1:44 pm
Suzanne, I have had the same questions as #19, Betty, since about 6 week ago, when we heard almost banshee-like howling from Tian’s yard while watching the NZP cam. This went on for a whole weekend and only stopped on Sunday afternoon after he went in. A recent update on the NZP site seems to indicate that Mei has not gone into heat. I was wondering if a male’s rut causes these symptons, even in the absence of a female in heat? Like Betty, I too have been wondering if lactating moms have an estrus, perhaps a hormonally-weakened one? Other mammals ovulate while nursing, so this is indeed an interesting question!
I also thank you abundantly for your constant attention to our questions!
March 25th, 2006 at 4:15 pm
Suzanne, thanks for the info. No, the bears did not have pale faces. The bodies and faces were very dark, looked black. The contrast between the black and white was dramatic. The coats were not smoothe, perhaps the hairs were a little long, but were not any more shaggy than any other bear. So must have been Asiatic bears.
March 25th, 2006 at 4:20 pm
Suzanne, I just googled the Asiatic bear and the Sloth bear. The bear pictures I saw were definately the Asiatic bear. The Sloth bear is REALLY long-hair-shaggy
March 25th, 2006 at 8:17 pm
#14: Well said!!
March 26th, 2006 at 6:29 pm
T0 #8 – I watched Hua Mei and Bai Yun a lot more than I’ve watched Su Lin with Bai. Maybe it was because Hua Mei was her first baby, but Bai Yun seemed to love playing with her. I was told that she’d sometimes wake Hua Mei from a nap just to play. In the evenings, it was fun watching them play tag in the trees. When Bai got tired, she would just pick up Hua Mei and drop her off a limb onto the ground. It was also fun to watch the nightly bath routine with Bai putting Hua Mei on her big panda bed and licking her from head to toe like a cat. Hua Mei hated it! She’d squirm and try to get away. She’d run to the water bowl, climb into it and splash herself – as though to say ‘I can wash myself’. I’ve never seen Bai give Su Lin a bath as I usually turn my computer off earlier, but it was sure entertaining to watch the panda’s bedtime routine around 8-8:30 every night when Hua Mei was a baby.
May 31st, 2006 at 12:59 pm
i luv pandas they r the best i dont want them 2 becum extinct i luv em I LUV EM I LUVVVVVVVVV EM