Some of you have noticed a new camera number popping up on the Panda Cam: ” C9.” This camera is located in an area of the facility we didn’t previously have video access to. The camera is in the lower bedroom adjacent to the exhibit Gao Gao and Mei Sheng (pictured above) have been sharing for the last several months.
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The latest Girls In Science Zoo expedition led us to Dr. Debra Schmidt, associate nutritionist for the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park. We met up with her in a conference room and arrived to a table full of”¦ummm”¦INTERESTING-looking food items. The girls passed the items around to have a look and a sniff and were even encouraged to taste a few! Some of the things we were familiar with: dry cat food and alfalfa hay. But none of us had ever heard of folivore biscuits before! And who knew there were so many different kinds of dried grass with so many variations in protein content?!
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See Mary’s previous Weblog about the start of her Visit-A-Job at the Giant Panda Research Station.
The first duty of the day was to collect and weigh the leftover bamboo in each of the panda’s enclosures. This gives the keepers an idea of how much each animal had eaten overnight. Next was urine collection. Twice a week, the keepers collect the pandas’ urine to be analyzed for stress hormones in order to make sure the bears are healthy and happy. Kathy brought Bai Yun into a passageway and requested the behavior with a simple ” Go potty,” and the bear responded accordingly. As amazing as it was to watch a panda urinate on command, I was most excited about being within inches of the famous panda mom!
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Normally, if you tell someone they smell it is not a compliment, but in the world of koalas, males tend to be quite smelly this time of year in the hopes that females might take notice of them. March through May marks the breeding season for koalas and there are signs that things are in full swing at the San Diego Zoo’s koala barn. One of those signs is that the male koalas’ scent glands are in high production.
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Last Saturday and Sunday were pretty fun days at the San Diego Zoo for many animals and guests. It was the first time keepers highlighted enrichment activities that they provide for the animals in their care. Enrichment is offered everyday for all the animals at the Zoo and Wild Animal Park; it is something that keepers make available to the animals to stimulate their minds, bodies, or both. It provides new things for them to do that day. Enrichment can be as simple as a pile of mulch to fling and dig through, or hiding the day’s diet throughout the exhibit, or something more elaborate such as supplying paints for the animals to show off their artistic talents. Enrichment comes in many sizes and forms, and sometimes guests are not aware of what is going on. So this past weekend, keepers were able to meet with Zoo guests and provide them with information regarding the animals and enrichment.
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The swiftly moving Yangtze River carried our cruise ship on a not so ’slow boat in China’ trip for four days and three nights, through an area of interesting geologic formations and small villages.
The Victoria Katarina took our pre-tour group from the San Diego Zoo on a cruise filled with laughter, beautiful scenic gorges, and delicious food prepared by a talented chef!
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It was first thing in the morning and I was bringing some things back to the surgical areas for the registered veterinary technicians. I heard some commotion when I opened the double doors and right away noticed Koza’s crate. He’s been here so many times I’d know that crate anywhere, and even though there are millions of them that look just like it, there’s only one crate that contains a hand-reared, five-month old lion cub like him.
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Visit-A-Job is an exciting raffle opportunity for staff of the San Diego Zoo and the Wild Animal Park: winning employees get to spend a day working in the department of their choice. It’s a fun and fulfilling way to become familiar with””and sometimes immersed in””areas of the Zoo or Park that we might otherwise only know from a distance. For example, food service employees can try out the role of gardener, administrative personnel can spend the day beside a CRES scientist, etc. Last week, a Wild Animal Park educator (me) got to see what it’s like to be a panda keeper!
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As has been previously posted, the youngsters here at the San Diego Zoo’s Giant Panda Research Station, Mei Sheng and Su Lin, have been flexing their muscles and their climbing skills this past week. Su Lin especially has been testing her personal limits as the days warm, the breeze picks up, and the feeling of spring is in the air. I even witnessed a nursing bout this week, the first I’d seen in many weeks. (It’s obviously happening, since Su Lin continues to gain weight, but cubs of this age nurse only a few times every 24 hours, most often outside of viewing hours.) While Bai Yun was ” bearly” cooperative, Su Lin seemed quite satisfied, climbing back up the tree with a visibly full tummy and a milk moustache!
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Kidomo, our seven-week-old okapi calf in Ituri Forest at the San Diego Zoo is growing by leaps and bounds. While he is still a youngster, his keepers have been using every opportunity to handle him and expose him to many different situations. It is very important to touch Kidomo (pictured here with keeper Jama Kasowicz) a lot while he is young, including picking up his legs and inspecting his hooves. All of this ” desensitizing” is important in making him feel comfortable with us in the future, not to mention one of the best parts of any keeper’s job!
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