Pandas, Part II
Posted at 6:41 am May 11, 2006 by Cindy Spiva-Evans
Girls In Science made a visit to the Panda Team earlier this semester to observe and learn about panda behavior (see Cindy’s blog, Of Pandas and Polars). In a special follow-up visit, we were lucky to meet with two special women””Staci Wong and Pamela Crowe””who introduced us to the finer points of data collection and panda research!
We started each visit in the outdoor panda classroom, observing Mei Sheng and his interaction with enrichment that the keepers provided him. The girls were given data sheets and ethograms, which are essentially keys to the codes that the researchers use to document behavior. Using a timer that beeped every 60 seconds, we spent ten minutes documenting Mei Sheng’s behavior (and he had a wonderful time with the apple juice popsicles!) and learning how data collectors usually do this in two-hour chunks of time. The ethograms the researchers normally use are pages and pages and pages”¦and pages”¦long. Ours only had about six choices!
From there, we took our data up into the conference room and spent a little time discussing the different types of data that our team is focused on: animal welfare, enrichment interaction, play, mating, mother-infant interaction, and cub development. We also learned that female panda behavior changes radically when estrus is approaching, during breeding, and through pregnancy and birth, and found the details fascinating. So little was known about pandas before Bai Yun and Shi Shi arrived in 1996, every little thing our team learns contributes greatly to the general knowledge base.
The girls felt privileged to be a small part of this ongoing 12-year research project. Thanks, Staci and Pamela, for illuminating the finer details of data collection!
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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May 11th, 2006 at 2:01 pm
As always, I love reading about that big panda boy Mei Sheng! GIS may stand for Girls in Science, but this adult would enjoy the opportunity to participate in such a learning experience. Were the juicesicles the enrichment item? If so, were there any other enrichment items? Did Mei Sheng interect with the data collectors? If so, what effect did such interection have on the data collected? Thanks.
May 12th, 2006 at 12:49 pm
Mei Sheng’s enrichment each day was a cardboard box with apple juice-sicles and folivore biscuits inside. He was pulled off exhibit each day, and while in the back, the keepers put out the goodies. We were offered a special viewing, at the time when he usually retired for the day, so when his bedroom door opened for him to return to the exhibit, he looked a little stunned! He eventually wandered back out and had a look around. As you can see from the blog photo, he enjoyed his treats, even though he was initially a little confused! He did a fairly good job of ignoring us altogether! Thanks for you interest in our program!
May 12th, 2006 at 1:59 pm
You’re welcome! I guess pandas are creatures of habit, too. Popsicles seem to be the panda snack of choice at both SDZ and NZ. The blog photo is hysterical, with him trying to shove his big furry face into that little box! Thanks again-the GIS program is a wonderful opportunity for the lucky participants.
May 12th, 2006 at 3:19 pm
If only I knew then what I know now! I am 50 years old, and oh, how I wish my chosen career would be one of working with animals in some capacity. I applaud your efforts with this Girls in Science program, and wish I could have been a participant so many years ago! Good luck to all of you!
May 15th, 2006 at 2:51 pm
I missed the snow day yesterday, but looking at the time-lapsed video, I think little Su Lin had a great time in the snow!
May 16th, 2006 at 9:06 am
I took a look at the time-lapsed video from ” snow day” – and although I could see Bai Yun rolling around in it, I had a hard time seeing if Su Lin ever really got into playing in it. Please post pictures and a blog – I’d love to see some shots of them playing in it. Also, I noticed that Su Lin’s photo gallery hasn’t been updated since her ” mud day” – so I was hoping that some new shots could be added there as well. Just suggestions… I know you all are really busy with taking care of the animals!
Editor’s note: We’re working on both requests–give us a few days.
May 16th, 2006 at 12:05 pm
Cheryl, Su Lin spent much of the morning in the tree, but she & Mom had a lively play session later that I was lucky enough to witness in person! Mei Sheng was energized-he had a great time rolling, running & doing somersaults. Even Bai Yun did a somersault!
May 16th, 2006 at 12:24 pm
Cheryl, if you go to the video page, you can see the video of Su Lin, Bai Yun and Spanky the Brown Bear with snow. The footage (both main and interview) is from earlier in the day before I made it in to the exhibit, so I enjoyed them both. I took some photos alongside the zoo’s photographers and videographers, and I know it wasn’t easy taking Su Lin’s photos! It took her hours to realize that white thing was actually fun. Mei Sheng was having a ball, though.
May 16th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
I was lucky enough to see Mei Sheng playing in the snow, and that young lad was having one heck of a good time! Looked like he was in seventh heaven with barely a moment to stand still.
May 16th, 2006 at 7:31 pm
Sayuri, Thank you for the info about the video page.
May 17th, 2006 at 8:19 am
I just looked at that video– my god, Su Lin has gotten so big, I hadn’t realized till I saw her keeper carrying her out, no wonder we don’t get video updates like before. The pictures never really show her actual size. They have their hands full with her, how far she has come from that little cub in the plastic box. I doubt she would fit in it anymore. Thanks for letting us know about that video.
May 18th, 2006 at 8:30 am
What was the outcome of the panda team regarding their trip to the Wolong Panda Reserve? Thanks in advance.
May 18th, 2006 at 3:44 pm
I agree with Cheryl, #6. There haven’t been many new pictures of Su (my December, 2005 adopted panda cub) in a long time. With all of the people with cameras on mother’s day, there must have been some zoo personnel who took pictures that could be posted. I seem to recall that there were a lot more pictures of Mei (who is just a beautiful big boy panda now) than there have been of Su! We have a side of a support column at work (out of view of clients) which is designated as our ” Panda Pillar,” where we put up new pictures of both panda cubs.
August 27th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
OMG! how cool would it have been to go see the pandas for real!?! So what happened after you got ur data? did anything cool happen with the panda team?