Life at the San Diego Zoo’s Giant Panda Research Station is in a groove at the moment. Su Lin has settled in to her new space well, and moves between an off-exhibit “classroom” enclosure and her bedrooms easily. Mei Sheng is enjoying his time off exhibit, too, in part because he has opportunities to interact with his sister from the tops of trees in their adjoining classroom pens. Gao Gao is, well, Gao Gao. He eats. He sleeps. Life is good for Gao Gao.
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Part #2
(Read Part #1, Sven Learns to Recycle)

Sven and I would start our day with a morning session on stage. I played peppy music while we worked on the behaviors. His tail would wag as he heard the music, so I knew he was enjoying our work together. I introduced different recyclable items to Sven to see if he was more prone to accept one item over another. I chose the item he was most attracted to and would progress to the least favorite in this order: paper towel holders, plastic bottles, aluminum cans. For whatever reason, Sven refused to hold or drop rolled-up newspaper. I gave it a good try, but accepted his final answer and we moved on from there.
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Installment #5
(Read Installment #4, Kinah Meets Grandma Dixie.)

On March 7, 2007, Kinah met her grandmother for a full-contact introduction. We placed her into the sunny exercise yard and the door leading to the bedroom was slid open. Dixie exited calmly and noticed Kinah straight away. Kinah made some brave but polite approaches toward Dixie. The actions of each animal seemed designed not to frighten or offend the other. Dixie made gentle grabs at Kinah to investigate her. Kinah would allow the investigations until uncomfortable, and then politely wiggle away. We made sure Kinah got a chance to eat her solid food by placing it into a creep (a small enclosure that only she was tiny enough to enter). When Kinah returned to the nursery that night she was thoroughly tired but not stressed in any way. Her appetite was good and her weight continued to climb, a signal that she was tolerating the changes in her routine well.
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So I had just finished writing this lovely piece about how much progress I’ve made with the Pallas’ cat, a.k.a. Mom (see New Year, New Attitude). Well of course Murphy’s Law kicked in and she’s showing the side of her that’s not so lovable. Mom has decided that she no longer depends on us and will only shift off exhibit and eat when SHE wants to.
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Part #1
I suppose I took on this training project for the challenge and, of course, for the end result: a very cute show segment with the powerful message, “Recycling is so easy even a dog can do it!” Watching a beautiful, happy, blond golden retriever trot out on stage during a show at the Hunte Amphitheater at the San Diego Zoo and clean up his immediate environment by recycling paper, plastic, and aluminum into a recycling bin brings down the house every time! I had no idea that Sven Olof would take his job so seriously, but he does and the audience loves him for it.
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Installment #4
(Read Installment #3, Kinah Meets the Troop.)

Kinah’s grandmother Dixie was our next choice as an adoptive parent. Dixie is gentle, had proved to be a good mother, and had even accepted back two of her own babies that were raised in the nursery. She was patient, treating each with care without being overbearing. Dixie was living with a male named Toad, who is a beautiful, gentle animal. Also of interest to us was a lone female named Bunzi. Little Bunzi was also living around other monkeys but in an enclosure by herself because she was actively ousted from her social group: several months earlier they (for reasons clear only to the monkey mind) ganged up on little Bunzi. Since Bunzi was young and sweet, we hoped that she, too, could be part of Kinah’s new family some day.
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Currently we have a family group of four siamangs living with the orangutans at the Absolutely Apes habitat at the San Diego Zoo: resident male Unkie, 23, breeding female Eloise, 25, juvenile female Hitam Lucu, almost 3, and Karim-Alam (we haven’t determined the sex yet), born December 13, 2006 (see Juan’s previous blog, Generous Nature). Interestingly, family groups typically consist of exactly this ratio. Though not typical, families consisting of a single set of parents with three juvenile offspring have been documented.
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If I were visiting the San Diego Zoo, an ideal morning would go something like this:

After entering the Zoo right at opening, go directly to the left of the flamingos to the coffee cart. They are now serving organic, shade-grown coffee that is delicious. I am a coffee-with-half-and-half guy, but they also offer the “fufu” drinks so many people love. Now, with a hot java in hand (in a “compostable” cup!), continue just a little way down the path which leads past Flamingo Lagoon into Monkey Trails. Between the flamingos and the coffee cart, there is a magical garden.
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We recently had our monthly All About Enrichment weekend here at the San Diego Zoo, but apparently someone forgot to tell our polar bears! They seem to be in a bit of a lazy phase right now. Usually when people ask me the best time to see the bears in action I say, “Right when we open.” But this hasn’t been the case of late. I tried my best to entertain the guests with my wit and led up to my big finale of giving small Boomer balls to Tatqiq and Kalluk. Tatqiq (pictured) at least obliged me by getting in the water and munching on a few carrots, but showed little interest in what is usually one of her favorite toys. Kalluk just slept through the whole thing. But I guess that’s why they say you can’t make an 800-pound polar bear do anything they don’t want to do!
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Installment #3
(Read Installment #2 here.)
On December 12, 2006, we brought Kinah down to the San Diego Zoo’s Ituri Forest for a visit. The Allen’s swamp monkey group was brought into the back bedrooms for the session. Each member of the troop filed down to check out the newcomer with calm interest. Marbelina’s reaction was very different, though, from the rest of the monkeys; she clearly remembered that this was her baby. With frustration, she tried repeatedly to reach through the partition and grab Kinah.
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