The Panda Decade, Part 1
Posted at 3:02 pm November 14, 2006 by Ellie Rosenbaum
It’s hard to believe, as the San Diego Zoo prepares to celebrate it’s 90th birthday later this week, that the Giant Panda Research Station has been a part of the Zoo for the last 10 years. And giant pandas were part of the Zoo’s history almost a decade before, with the 200-day visit in 1987 of two pandas, Basi and Yuan Yuan. That was the beginning of extensive talks with the People’s Republic of China to obtain a longer loan of giant pandas to the San Diego Zoo for research that we hoped would help insure the future of this endangered animal in the wild.
After years of negotiations, planning, and construction, Bai Yun and Shi Shi finally arrived on September 10, l996, to begin their routine quarantine and await their debut at the original viewing area, located to the right of the current Research Station. Anticipation was high and on a beautiful San Diego day in October, Joan Embery cut the ribbon opening the area to visitors and, acccompanied by students from a local Chinese school wearing red T-shirts, the color of good luck, led the way in.
Those may have been the first official visitors, but the visitors kept coming. The Panda Discovery Center was originally a multi-layered queue with a secondary queue on Panda Canyon and it was not uncommon for the line of eager visitors to stretch well down the road. It was my extraordinary privilege to have been one of the first group of panda narrators, and things were a lot different in those early days. Shi Shi, our first male in residence (pictured above), and Bai Yun – yes, our Bai Yun – were out for limited hours and only on exhibit one at a time as they became acclimated to their new home and the keepers, veterinarians, and research staff learned about them and how best to care for them. Staff had been to China to learn about animal care there, but it was a huge responsibility to have these national treasures of China living in our Zoo, so decisions were made very carefully.
Bai Yun was 5 years old at the time (making her younger then than Hua Mei is now!), a lively, curious bear who used to climb up near the top of a pine tree and dangle herself propped over branches in a singularly uncomfortable-looking position to nap. As time went on, we would joke that the more body parts she dangled, the more soundly she appeared to be sleeping. Shi Shi was an older bear, perhaps as old as 18 or 20 when he arrived. Because he had been rescued from the wild as a badly injured, older adult, his age was not known. Described as set in his ways, he was a serious napper and eater – as a panda should be. The intensity with which he pursued these behaviors could often cause distress to visitors. Lining up as soon as the Zoo opened to be first to view the pandas, visitors were occasionally disappointed when Shi Shi overslept his posted morning viewing time by an hour or so. As we still explain today, the bears are here for us to learn about what pandas do, including sleeping in when they choose (although it wasn’t easy being the one who had to tell this to the 200 eager panda fans who’d been waiting in the sun for an hour….)
That first year was exciting just for the presence of the pandas, and even as they settled into a routine of sorts and became comfortable here at the Zoo, there was much information being gathered – something which continues to this day.
Ellie Rosenbaum is a panda narrator at the San Diego Zoo.
Here’s information about the Zoo’s 90th Birthday celebration.
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November 14th, 2006 at 9:34 pm
WOW! 10 Years and still going really strong.
I feel blessed to live at a time when pandas are in the US and we are able to see these awesome animals and watch as they live, grow and have babies.
Thanks to all who pioneered this opportunity!
Here’s to the NEXT 10!!!
November 15th, 2006 at 7:10 am
That is awesome. I like hearing about how Bai was when she was younger, thanks so much for sharing
November 15th, 2006 at 10:19 am
Do you have any videos or pictures of Bai Yun when she was younger? It would be good to see the likeness to her cubs. Not all pandas look the same and a comparison would be great.
November 15th, 2006 at 11:06 am
I remember those earlier days so well, Ellie. Thanks for recalling them for all of us. One particular moment I’ll never forget was when Basi and Yuan Yuan were first presented to the general public back in 1987. Yuan Yuan ambled out first to a general murmur of oohs and aahs, turned his back to us, and pooped!! They were a great pair and there was such disappointment when their all-too-short visit with us was over. Let’s hope we’ll always have pandas here and continue to learn from them!
November 15th, 2006 at 1:02 pm
Thank you, Ellie, for the fascinating historical information on the pandas at SDZ. Bai Yun’s draping herself over uncomfortable branches sounds like Miss Su Lin. Also, when you mention Shi Shi’s age, it seems clearer why there were natural mating problems. Sometimes those ” May-December” romances are difficult!
November 15th, 2006 at 1:38 pm
Thank you, Ellie, for sharing so much information with us. One thing I seem to notice is that the pandas do scratch themselves when they itch. Now do you know what causes the itch? Is it bugs? Is it dry skin? Or impacted oil glands? Do they molt? (I don’t seem to notice large patches of bald spots or discarded clumps of loose fur/hair.) Or perhaps they itch as they grow when the skin stretches, sort of like growing pains in humans?
November 15th, 2006 at 6:11 pm
Thanks Ellie for the histroy of the SDZ pandas. That picture of Shi Shi is so cute. It looks so diffrent from the one in the meet the pandas page.
November 16th, 2006 at 8:40 am
I also have a question similar to P Wong’s. I do doubt if the pandas scratch themselves merely because they itch ? I notice that Tai Shan always scratches himself when he is seemingly in a situation of hesitation, just like when the keepers coax him back to the indoor exhibit and he is unwilling to do so.
November 16th, 2006 at 9:17 am
Thank you, Ellie, for sharing great information about Bai Yun’s early days. Ditto Joanne #3. Do you have any old videos of when Bai Yun first arrived? It is hard to imagine her now as a rambunctious youngster. She is such at mature lady and wonderful momma bear now. She does a good job of dealing with lively youngsters of her own who now climb the trees instead of her.
I remember visiting Basi and Yuan Yuan in September 1987 with my nephew who was about to turn 2. My home videos of them keep everyone laughing because I do a running narration of the animals at the zoo, and the pandas in particular. I remember her riding the bike and as I recall playing with a big ball. It was so exciting to be privileged to see two visitors from China during their short stay in the US. I am so glad that negotiations were later conducted to bring more pandas to the US for an extended stay for us to study and enjoy. They have brought many hours of pleasure to hundreds of thousands of visitors in 10 years, and unlimited study and learning opportunities. We all hope that on-going negotiations will allow current pandas to stay longer, or even better more of their family members to come and occupy the space that US zoos have already built to hold more pandas. Wolong is getting more crowded as it fills to capacity, so the available space in US zoos may be a welcome outlet for the Chinese researchers in charge of panda conservation.
November 16th, 2006 at 10:52 am
PBS Nature’s Panda DVD has video footages of ” Hurricane Bai Yun” that I love to watch.
I always love hearing about stories about Shi Shi and Bai Yun’s early days in San Diego.
Speaking of the good old days, it was a year ago yesterday (11/15) that Bai Yun took Su Lin out on her first outdoor excursion. I think it was written in the Su Lin news section. It was an exciting day for us, but Su Lin slept most of the time.