Chukai, our 8-month-old Malayan tapir, is growing up! At 430 pounds (195 kilograms), he is now more than half the size of his mom, Rose, who tips the scales at 805 pounds (365 kilograms). Even though he is such a big boy, he still relies heavily on his mom for nurturing and nourishment. Yes, Chukai still nurses for long periods of time every morning while they are off exhibit in their bedrooms! Although weaning usually occurs between 6 and 8 months of age, some tapir calves will continue to nurse until they are over a year old. Researchers are not entirely sure how long young tapirs will remain with their mothers in the wild, but it is believed that they may stay together for over two years.
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Being a veterinarian for the Zoological Society of San Diego is an exciting and rewarding career. Our veterinarians are among the finest, most dedicated, and knowledgeable in the world. You might be surprised to learn that a zoo veterinarian not only focuses on caring for animals in zoos and other captive wildlife institutions, but also studies animals in their native environments.
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Time flies!

Next week is Su Lin’s first birthday. It is hard to fathom that a whole year has passed since she was born. I think it is fair to say that this first year of Su Lin’s life was watched, in great detail, more than any other giant panda cub born here at the San Diego Zoo. It has been a great pleasure sharing all the developmental milestones of her first year with so many panda enthusiasts. Since her first squawk (at about 5 seconds of age!) we have all watched her as she developed her first signs of black and white coloring, supported herself on her front legs and eventually all fours, grew a fluffy coat of fur, and began to crawl and play with her mother, Bai Yun. All of us involved with her first year will spend time this week reflecting on the many changes we have witnessed over the past year.
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I have been a fan of the San Diego Zoo for as long as I can remember. From my earliest days as a ‘Zoo School’ camper to recent summers as an intern in the Zoo’s Education Department, my interest in the Zoo’s mission and various functions has continuously evolved and only continues to grow.
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One of the benefits of working closely with animals like the pandas is the opportunity to witness how people are really touched by these creatures. My office at the San Diego Zoo overlooks the panda queue, where visitors line up daily to see the bears. I often catch a glimpse of a look of wonderment on a child’s face, or a broad smile as someone takes in the sight of these bears close up. But our pandas touch lives far from San Diego, too.
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CRES offers summer student fellowships to help undergraduates, recent graduates, and graduate students gain research experience. The Fellows enjoy doing research outside of the university without having to juggle class work on the side!

My name is Sara, and I am a recent graduate of Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. There, I studied animal behavior and was able to design and carry out numerous behavioral research projects with various animal species. This summer, with the help of Caroline Pitt, a Research Fellow in the Behavioral Biology Division of CRES, I will be observing an incredibly fascinating species, the shoebill stork Balaeniceps rex. The opportunity to study this African bird is very important for CRES because the shoebill has never reproduced in captivity. By reading about and studying the behavior of the shoebill, we will hopefully begin to understand their breeding behavior.
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On July 6, Kidomo was introduced to the rest of the okapi herd in the San Diego Zoo’s Ituri Forest. Since his birth on February 22, 2006, Kidomo and dam Kelle have been kept separate from our male, Biscotti, and female, Safarani. However, Kidomo is now old enough to ” hang with the group!” (Read Nerissa’s previous blog, Okapi Calf Learns the Ropes.)

For a few months now, all four okapis have been on exhibit but separated by a barrier fence. This still allowed them to see and smell each other every day, but kept Kidomo safe until he was big enough to live full time with his herd. We weren’t sure what to expect when we took down the fence, but were surprised to see Kidomo go right up to Biscotti for an up-close examination. Biscotti even ran away a few times!
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A decade ago, scientists were actively debating whether or not the giant panda was in fact a true bear. Some evidence suggested that they may have been more appropriately classified, along with the lesser or red panda, within the raccoon family. In recent years that debate has been settled with genetic evidence and we now agree that giant pandas are bears.
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CRES offers summer student fellowships to help undergraduates, recent graduates, and graduate students gain research experience. The Fellows enjoy doing research outside of the university without having to juggle class work on the side!

My name is Sagan and I have recently graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, where I studied anthropology and conservation biology. I grew up in San Diego, where the Zoo and Wild Animal Park motivated me to pursue an education that would one day lead to a career that would allow me to study and work with animals. Now I am back on the home front working with the people I have admired since I was little.
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The temperature reached nearly 100 in San Diego on Saturday and the giant pandas did just fine. By the hottest part of the day, Su Lin was sleeping in a stream of cooling mist, Mei Sheng was sleeping in a stream of cooling mist, Gao Gao was sleeping in a stream of cooling mist, and Bai Yun was sleeping… in her air-conditioned bedroom! Kudos to the diligent keeper staff for keeping a careful eye on all their charges here at the San Diego Zoo!

Ellie Rosenbaum is a panda narrator at the San Diego Zoo.

Watch the pandas keep their cool on Panda Cam.

Enjoy new video of Su Lin and Bai Yun on our Panda News page.