During our trip up to the old research labs at the San Diego Zoo, I tried to explain to the Girls In Science participants what exactly we would be seeing this week. The topic was fairly advanced science, and of all the things we’ve experienced this year, THIS was the area I was most concerned about. Would they be able to fully grasp the details of genetics and heredity? Would they care about sperm motility or ovum cryopreservation? Would they giggle through the entire lesson? Or would they settle in and take advantage of the information that was offered?
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If you haven’t heard the exciting news, we have four new monkey residents in Ituri Forest! Under the support of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the Zoological Society of San Diego, along with five other zoos, combined efforts and resources to rescue 33 monkeys, representing five different species, which had been destined for the hobbyist trade in South Africa. (Read more about the rescue here.)
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This time I thought I’d give you a break from Soso’s adventures (his eye is healing nicely) and tell you a little about my weekend. Part of my work as a Postdoctoral Fellow for the San Diego Zoo’s CRES is to survey forests in Cameroon for drills and other endangered species. Sometimes I visit villages and talk with hunters to get a feel for the species and densities of animals remaining; more often I’ll also spend days or even weeks trekking through the forest with local guides to evaluate the situation on the ground.
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In a previous blog I began telling you about the morning training the orangutans go through (see Orangutan Exercises). Since we have seven orangutans, I was only able to touch on Indah and Cinta’s training. Here is more of my morning with one of the other orangutans”¦
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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!
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Some of you have noticed that at some institutions in China, panda females often give birth yearly, rather than every other year (or less often) as our female Bai Yun has done. A few questions have arisen as to the natural state of the panda on this matter.

In the wild, pandas nurse their young for 18 months to two years. This long lactation period generally prevents the occurrence of an estrus the year after a cub is born, something we refer to as ” lactational suppression of estrus.” Lactation (aka, milk production) prohibits the hormones responsible for estrus and fertility from taking hold, thus preventing the female from being sexually receptive and getting pregnant again while her offspring are very young and dependant on milk. This means that wild panda females rearing young will not give birth every year.
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The San Diego Zoo’s WorldWild Tours’ “Panda Patrol” went to China! One of our regular panda blog readers reported in on their adventures periodically. Read her previous post, WWT: Playtime with Pandas!

For those of you who asked, here are some answers to your questions.

1) The cubs are getting quite big, with heads that are large in proportion to their bodies, much like human babies.
2) The cubs’ fur texture is not soft, but not coarse either. It is midway between the two.
3) “My” cub had no detectable smell.
4) They drink milk out of a bowl, chew on bamboo, and are no longer nursing, since they are no longer with their mothers.
5) We were fortunate to talk with our San Diego Zoo panda specialist, Dr. Ron Swaisgood, who is visiting Wolong for several days as he continues to conduct research on giant pandas as part of joint efforts between the SDZ and the breeding center in Wolong.

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Pass the cigars and knit some booties; Janey and Mowgli, the pair of red river hogs in the Wild Animal Park’s Nairobi Village are parents! About two weeks ago, we began to suspect Janey was pregnant. First, there was a change in her behavior: she became extremely eager and vocal for her food. Then there was a change in her physical appearance: we noticed her abdomen and nipples enlarging. It seemed like each day she got bigger and bigger and bigger.
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Once the sun is up and the dew is off the grass, the five meerkat brothers (we call them “the little men”) at the Wild Animal Park will emerge from their burrows to start their day: they don’t go for coffee, they go for sun worship. They will all stand facing in the direction of the sun so as to absorb as much warmth as possible. If it’s a chilly morning, they will all huddle together and look like a clump of meerkats trying to get warm. When I look after them, I usually feed the main portion of their diet around 9:45-10 a.m. This way, they’ve had time to warm up and get hungry.
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I know I promised to tell you more about orangutan training sessions (see my previous blog, Orangutan Exercises), but here is something fun I’d like to share first!
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