In Response to Your Inquiries…
Posted at 3:34 pm October 27, 2006 by Suzanne HallOnce again, I thought I would take some time to answer a few of the questions that many of you have posed on the panda blog.
A few of you have asked about the fates of ” senior pandas,” ones that are no longer contributing to the reproductive efforts of the captive panda population. Since space is limited at the Wolong center, older animals often do not live at the breeding facility. Instead, they are transferred to other zoos throughout China where they live out the rest of their lives as representatives of their species, visited by Chinese tourists who may not have the opportunity to visit Wolong. It seems, as in the case of Shi Shi, that the bears become honored members of that particular zoo’s population. To the best of our knowledge Shi Shi is living a pretty good life in Guangzhou.
As to the status of the panda population boom in China”¦ Wolong has had another record year, with 17 cubs born thus far. They have had a number of interesting things crop up this year, including the first panda cub born with a harelip and the largest cub on record. Hua Mei did not give birth this year, and as it is getting late in the season it appears that she has decided to take a year off from maternal concerns.
The pandas in Chapultepec are, indeed, owned by Mexico. There are three aging females there. The oldest two may well be incapable of breeding now, due to their age, and the youngest has had some irregularities with her estrus cycle that may have contributed to her inability to get pregnant. Over the years the San Diego Zoo has worked with Chapultepec and the Ueno Zoo in Japan to try to get the females pregnant using the Ueno male, Ling Ling, as a father, but we had no success in getting natural mating or in developing a pregnancy from an artificial insemination.
Finally, some of you have noticed Gao Gao tongue-flicking on the Panda Cam. This is a stereotypic behavior that he has had for years, even before he moved to the Wolong breeding center in the year before arriving in San Diego. In our experience, this is a very difficult behavior to eradicate. I am pleased to report, however, that the frequency with which Gao Gao tongue-flicks has decreased since his arrival in San Diego in 2003.
Thanks for your interest and all of your great questions!
Suzanne Hall is the senior research laboratory technician for the Giant Panda Conservation Unit of Applied Animal Ecology/CRES.
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October 27th, 2006 at 5:52 pm
Harelip? Oh my. Will they be doing plastic surgery to correct the cub’s lip?
October 28th, 2006 at 2:10 am
I was about to ask what a harelip was but then I looked it up-
” a congenital abnormality in which there is a cleft or split in the upper lip”
The National Zoo mentioned that Tian Tian displayed stereotypic behavior recently too. Is that like a nervous habit? Like the time Gus the Polar Bear swam in circles for hours at the Central Park Zoo?
Anyway, thanks to you Suzanne for updating us.
October 28th, 2006 at 9:24 am
Thanks Suzanne. I see where Tao Tao celebrated her 34th birthday. Isn’t that so amazing? What a wise old girl she must be. I would like to know if your team is in contact with other zoos in China? I know you are with Wolong Research, but wondered about others.
October 28th, 2006 at 9:27 am
Suzanne, sorry, but I forgot that I was going to ask how the baby with the harelip would be affected when trying to eat bamboo? Thanks again!
October 28th, 2006 at 9:34 am
Thanks for answering all those questions. I like learning more and more about the pandas.
October 29th, 2006 at 8:59 pm
Suzanne, a big thank you for answering our questions!
Do you think the little cub born with a harelip will have problems with nursing, or later on, how s/he will be able to eat bamboo? Would the veterinarians provide surgery to correct it? I was just wondering if the mother is able to nurse her cub with this issue….
Thanks!
October 30th, 2006 at 7:10 am
Thank you, Suzanne, for the great info on our elder pandas. It is heartwarming to know that these special bears are not being forgotten as they age. Do you think that there is a chance that Hua Mei will ever come back to SDZ when and if Bai Yun leaves us? Could there ever be a day when we could own our pandas? I believe this could help other Zoos that are carefully monitored to start breeding programs.
October 30th, 2006 at 8:14 am
Thanks, Suzanne, for another outstanding educational blog. It is great to have our questions answered and to be reassured that our mature friends are being well taken care of. It would be great if the females in Mexico could produce cubs because they are the only captive animals in North America that do not belong to China. However, we must all learn patience as we wait to see if any other efforts to do natural breeding and artificial insemination will eventually produce a cub or cubs.
Thanks to you and all your colleagues for an extraordinary effort to care for the wonderful pandas in your care. They, and their admirers, are truly blessed to have such caring people responsible for their well-being. It is a priceless privilege to watch these animals develop, and to be able to ask questions and learn about them first hand.
October 30th, 2006 at 10:57 am
AY #2,
A stereotypic behavior is a behavior which appears to serve no obvious purpose, but usually develops as a distortion of a normal behavior. For example, polar bears often swim in circles because they live in small environments in zoos, and their natural need to roam long distances is thwarted in captivity (it’s just not possible to give them infinite space!). Captive pandas also pace, tongue flick, head toss, pirouette, etc… Generally speaking, the fewer stereotyic behaviors an animal has, the better that animal’s mental health is. We try to reduce the number and frequency of any stereotypies observed by improving the animal’s living conditions with enrichment, more complex enclosures, etc. Our most stereotypic bear is Gao Gao, but his levels of stereotypies have reduce since his arrival in San Diego.
To the many who had questions about the harelip,
I don’t really know how this cub will be affected. My understanding is that the malformation is not as significant as it could be. However, since this is a first-of-its-kind event, we don’t really know how this will impact the mother-cub relationship, or if the cub will be compromised in any way. We’ll have to wait and see!
October 30th, 2006 at 2:37 pm
Suzanne,
I believe the little cub with the harelip was born on August 25 and was one of a set of twins, a male and a female. A Pandas Unlimited member adopted this little male and kept many of us up-to-date on its progress. Sadly, we were notified on September 13 that the little cub had died of congenital heart disease. We all mourn its passing. This kind PU member has now adopted the surviving female cub, which is thriving. Sorry to be the bearer of such sad news.
October 30th, 2006 at 8:01 pm
Pamela G–thank you for the update on the little cub. It is indeed sad news about one of these dear creatures.
October 31st, 2006 at 6:35 am
The biggest miracle in Wolong this year is that a cub weighed only 51 grams ( 1.8 ounces) when born. I wonder if it is the smallest cub on record; it survived and has now grown into the normal size as other cubs. People in Wolong gave it a nickname ” 51 gm” .
October 31st, 2006 at 8:24 am
It is very heart wrenching to hear about the little cub passing away. However, it is a perfect example of the survival of the fittest. It is just nature’s way of making sure the strongest survive and the best genes are passed on. Unfortunately this poor little cub had more than 1 health related issue. We must be content in knowing that his twin sister is healthy and strong!
October 31st, 2006 at 8:49 am
Pamela G, Thank you for letting us know about the little cub. As sad as the news is, i’m sure that everthing possible was done for the little one, and that now he is in a better place. I’m glad to hear that the little girl is doing well and thriving and has a bright future.
October 31st, 2006 at 1:09 pm
Pamela G, thanks for the update on the little cub. Yet another reason why twins are born naturally in 50% of all panda births. In the wild I wonder which one of the cubs the mother would have raised? The cub had a fighting chance due to the intervention of humans.
I guess that means that now the 27 cubs this year are down to 25 still growing. Let’s hope the rest are strong and make it through their tough first year.
October 31st, 2006 at 1:57 pm
Breeding 8 generations of dogs has taught us, unfortunately, that one defect like a harelip is usually accompanied by others; in this case, it was a heart defect. Such congenital defects are usually caused by some mistake in genetic combination or by some trauma, like a virus, during the pregnancy. Like human Down’s Syndrome, they’re not hereditary and are thus a surprise. The cleft lip would seem to be more likely to affect nursing and the ability to ” latch on” well than the ability to eat bamboo. In both humans and animals, the cleft lip can be accompanied by a cleft palate, which makes ingesting milk virtually impossible; animals with it either can become ” poor do-ers” who can not maintain body heat or gain weight, and die of such ” unthriftiness.” Dying from a heart defect was probably a quicker, less painful death than being unable to get sustenance and starving to death. Defects like harelips and cleft palates occur, unfortunately, at predictable statistical rates in both humans and domestic animals, so I think the captive pandas have been extremely fortunate not to have experienced this before.
Thank you so much, Suzanne, for answering our questions–and for trying to help the Chapultapec breeding efforts. I should have known that SDZ would be on top of every single reproductive panda issue worldwide!
October 31st, 2006 at 5:22 pm
Thanks Pamela G for the update on the little cub with the harelip.
I was concerned he wouldn’t be able to nurse or even breathe correctly. It breaks my heart that we have to lose a precious baby panda but nature knows best I suppose. I like to think he is in heaven and thriving as the beautiful baby he was. I’m glad to know he had a twin sister and she is thriving. My guess is that if his mommy was in the wild she may have rejected him. At least for the little amount of time he had he was well taken care of and much loved.
November 1st, 2006 at 9:07 am
These blogs bring me such joy and such sorrow.
November 1st, 2006 at 9:08 am
Suzanne, How are Marcella and her cub coming along? I keep hoping to see more pictures of the precious cub, but I have missed them.
With all the little ones being born at SDZ and WAP, you all have your hands full. Especially, as you are preparing Mei Sheng for his long journey home to Panda homeland.
November 2nd, 2006 at 12:07 pm
Thank you, Suzanne, for solving the mystery of Gao Gao’s tongue!
Now, I have more wacky questions.
Last month at the zoo, I was told that Su Lin was losing her baby teeth. Does she pretty much have adult teeth now or are they still on the way? I assume she’ll need adult teeth to fully manipulate bamboo. Do you keep baby panda teeth?
April 9th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
Zoo Staff,
I loved watching little Hua Mei and I always think of her when I make my way to the zoo with my 2 young children. She is still a great topic around my families dinner table on Sunday’s. My mother and I used to check the PandaCam everyday to see her when she was just a cub.
How is she doing? How many cubs has she had?
I would love to know how she is… I do miss her so.
And will she ever come back?
Julie Sedgwick