Truncation
Posted at 10:43 am April 24, 2007 by Suzanne Halltrun·cate
verb.:to shorten by cutting off a part; cut short
adj.: appearing to terminate abruptly
Boy, did she ever.
Yesterday, Bai Yun was showing us some mild behavioral signs of estrus. This morning, she bred with Gao Gao. Will she truncate the end of her estrus too? Is this her one and only day of receptivity to our male?
Stay tuned to the panda cam to see more exciting panda encounters throughout the day. We’ll do our best to show you what we can, but there is no guarantee the bears will cooperate with our camera angles!
Suzanne Hall is the senior research laboratory technician for the Giant Panda Conservation Unit of Applied Animal Ecology/CRES.
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April 24th, 2007 at 11:32 am
Yippee! I tuned in at noon my time (9:00 a.m SD time) and there was our boy and his lady having some fun!!!!! Since Su was born, I’ve had no luck at all catching any of the bears being active on the Cam, but I really got lucky (so did Bai – hee hee) this morning. Let’s hope and pray that another little panda (or two) is on the way!
Thanks for the great camera work this morning and let’s keep our fingers crossed! Gao, you rock!!!!!
April 24th, 2007 at 11:36 am
I watched THE event this morning. Let’s hope for a bundle of joy in August or September. Maybe two????
April 24th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Hi Suzanne,
It was wonderful to witness Bai and Gao mating this morning. Also, a big thank you to the Meerkats for doing such a great job following our ” stars” around the exhibit. Hopefully, Bai will not disappointment us– I’m certain there will be more encounters. Good Luck and thanks for all your love and hard work in caring
for these beautiful pandas.
Regards, Rose
April 24th, 2007 at 11:58 am
Curious to know, will you be inseminating Bai or allow ” nature to take it’s course” ? Thank you so much for all of the updates – it feels like we are part of your team!
April 24th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
I bet Gao Gao was happy. lol Finally he is thinking! Thank you so very much for adjusting the cameras around so we can see. thats so awesome esp for us that cannot be there in person. these 2 have had adorable babies and am hoping they have another. As Rose N has also stated, thank you for such love and care with these adorable animals. It would be so devastating if they died out.
April 24th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Me too. I was amazed that they were mating right there on my screen. What a guy.
April 24th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
It’s 2:54 Insane Diego time and I’ve just had the view of a lifetime. Daddy Gao Gao and Queen Bai Yun were at it again for at least the second time today! It’s kind of interesting being a webcam viewer of such an event! Imagine us having a cam for all the world to see.. no thanks! I hope this coupling will produce a healthy offspring if it is meant to be. What a patient sweetie, Daddy Gao Gao is- waiting until his partner is ready!
Some human men could take a lesson..
April 24th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
well big Daddy finally got his reward, it’s about 5 pm on the east coast and i am getting ready to go home. Bai hunted down her man, she was at the gate rubbing and standing up and finally the gate opened, Now i can stop being so nervous ,what a way to end my day. good luck to all. you go big daddy.
April 24th, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Congratulations! GaoGao is right on the money again! What a stud, and a very happy panda guy right now. Hope his lady, Bai is also smiling this afternoon. His nose must have been working overtime to work him that fast.
Sounds like everything happened so fast there was barely time to give them ” privacy!”
April 24th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
P.S. Now I know why I have seen so many shots of Su Lin all day in various places in her space. Unfortunately my timing was not good enough to catch her gleeful parents ” having fun.” Looking forward to updates on how much time they spent ” together” today and possibly tomorrow.
Bai is sure keep all of you on your toes and clued in. Glad that Gao is such a pro that he is ready to act at a moment’s notice. He sure was prepared.
April 24th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
Way to go Gao Gao and Bai Yun! What a stud!!
April 24th, 2007 at 2:49 pm
Christine (#4), I think SDZ has no need to do AI on Bai Yun. Gao Gao has mated with her the natural way on 2 previous estrus cycles and the results were Mei Sheng & Su Lin. Except for his long distance servicing of Mei Xiang in DC, I think Gao Gao can be relied on to take care of business ” up close and personal” . To do otherwise would be an insult to our Mr. Studmuffin.
Suzanne – have you guys been playing a lot of Barry White music lately?
April 24th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Wow! I was rather bummed when I read earlier that I had missed them this morning. So I left the cam on and got my treat! That was truly extraordinary and a beautiful thing! Gao Gao seemed to have a great big smile on his face! Will be looking forward to see what happens! Thank You Bai and Gao! You made my day!
April 24th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
I feel incredibly fortunate to have seen two ” encounters” between Bai Yun and Gao Gao today. And also to see close-ups of Miss Su Lin digging into her bamboo. She just gets cuter and cuter, if that’s possible, with a Bai Yun-type ” smile” on her face.
Thanks again for letting us be part of such an exciting day.
April 24th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
Thanks for allowing us to view the mating of Gao and Bai. It’s such a rare event and very few people have ever witnessed it. Let’s hope that today will soon allow us to witness another remarkable event: The birth of another Panda cub.
Thanks, too, for your wonderful and educational blogs that have led us to, and explained, this day. Your entire Panda Team are incredible people, and I am very grateful for the privilge you all have extended to the world.
Bravo! Well done!
April 24th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
Right on!
April 24th, 2007 at 6:49 pm
This Morning was so Wonderful!!!! Congratulations to Gao Gao and Bai Yun and to ALL at the San Diego Zoo! On a feeling, I got to the Panda Cam Just In Time!Was it Suzanne who predicted 4/24? This experience was phenonmenal! Thank You All so much for the Panda Cam!
I have a question that came up today at work….the question is regarding the sperm in a male panda. Can they ’store’ it while waiting for procreation? and does the male just have a seasonal cycle as does the female? We know that Gao Gao may become a Daddy through artificial insemination done in Washington’s Smithsonian Zoo, but we wonder how long a male Panda stores or keeps his sperm ready and waiting? Are the males cyclical also? I wish I could be at the SD Zoo on May 5th…I think I might learn the answer
Congratulations to you All! Absolutely Wonderful the experience today was for so many of us!
Sincerely,
Bobbie Wood
April 24th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
Wow! If there ends up being no cub, it won’t be from lack of trying! Way to go Gao Gao!
April 24th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Sorry to say I missed the main event, due to working the graveyard shift, and sleeping right through it!
Glad Bai and Gao had fun, and hope that a lil wee one comes from it!
With the news from DC on Tai, this is surely a day to remember in panda history!
April 24th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
Three matings in one day! Is this a record? I am impressed!
April 24th, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Wow, what a great day – first I got to see our ” man” Gao Gao taking care of business. Then I heard that Tia Shan will be able to stay in the US for for 2 more years. My question is – because Gao Gao seems to be one of few male pandas that seem to ” get it” does the fact he was born in the wild have anything to do with the fact he knows what to do & when to do it?? While China is doing a great job of breeding I question their weaning the cubs at 6 months – seems from what I’ve read these cubs need the bonding & play with their mothers and the natural weaning process which is about 18 months. Is this one of the reasons while males don’t ” know how to do to it” ?? How many of these cubs raised in China can make it in the wild? Anyway, in the meantime we’ll have our adorable cubs here & we hope for another healthy cub in SanDiego. Thanks for all your hard work & showing us this on the web cam. Best regards, Maureen
April 25th, 2007 at 8:08 am
I’ve been watching this Panda Cam since Hua Mei was a itty bitty thing. Yesterday was the first time I witnessed the pandas do the ” wild thing” . Thanks for all you do for our back & white friends. I’m praying that some day we will have pandas here at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans. Please come visit us, we’re still here America!
April 25th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Maureen, I too wonder if Gao Gao’s being from the wild influences his talents at breeding. Anyone know the scoop on this? My beau suggested this a few weeks ago, and perhaps he is onto something…..
April 25th, 2007 at 11:21 am
Hooray! Gao Gao is such a stud! Now we wait with great anticipation!