Who’s In Charge Here?
Posted at 7:19 am April 24, 2007 by Ellie Rosenbaum
You shouldn’t need 3 guesses if you’ve been following this area of the Web site””of course it’s Bai Yun! She’s in her mating season, her estrus is building to its peak, and she appears to be mostly unconcerned. Yes, we’re seeing increasing positive behaviors, but it appears that Gao Gao knows something the rest of us don’t. Bai spent most of her morning napping, after a brief but positive interlude at the introduction area with Gao. In true panda fashion, her nap was her nap and it took multiple keepers and researchers nearly 10 minutes to rouse her for the important daily swab and urine collection. But on their terms? No, no, no… before leaving the exhibit she selected a spot and urinated in the exhibit (fortunately leaving a discrete puddle from which the keepers could collect the sample).
Meanwhile, Gao Gao continues to scent mark, wander, and vocalize, vocalize, vocalize. He has been letting her know, as he would in the wild, he’s here and he’s ready, whenever she is””which she isn’t””but he’s here and he’s ready, when she is””which is what the research team is trying to determine””but he’s ready!!! So for all of you anxious to know just if and when actual mating will occur, as with almost everything else here, it’s all up to the bear, and in this case, as it usually is, it’s up to Bai Yun. And you can’t possibly be more ready for this to happen than Gao Gao!
Ellie Rosenbaum is an educator and panda narrator at the San Diego Zoo.
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April 24th, 2007 at 9:37 am
Wow! I tuned into pandacam a short time ago and saw–I think–Bai Yun and Gao Gao enjoying each other…for quite some time. Congratulations to the happy couple and everyone at SDZ who worked so hard to accomplish this. We so appreciate your keeping us aware of all that is going on.
April 24th, 2007 at 9:43 am
This is all so exciting. And THANK YOU Ellie, Suzanne, etc. for your enlightening (and entertaining) blogs! I’m excited too, as I just learned that Tai Shan can stay another 2 years! Perhaps this will be possible for our dear Su Lin too. If there’s room??? Oh, I hope so. We pandaholics have really bonded to these two cubs (especially I think, because there’s a boy and a girl) over the last couple of years.
April 24th, 2007 at 9:48 am
Poor Gao Gao. I hope he gets lucky soon!
April 24th, 2007 at 9:55 am
Dear Ellie, thank you so much for the update at 7.19 h. I am soooo excited since I just happened to catch ” the” moment we have all been waiting for! At around 9.00 h I had a glimpse at the panda webcam and observed Gao Gao as well as Bai Yun looking at each other from both sides of the howdy gate which opened a moment later. I watched the bears mating which was a unique experience for me knowing that one would virtually never be able to see them in the wild. Gao Gao seemed to vocalize to her while mating and afterwards nibbling on her. Later on Bai Yun (I suppose it was Bai Yun) started nibbling on her boo and rubbing herself on the ground and calling to ” her man” . I keep my fingers crossed that the mating is going to be successful and that there will be offspring in August (?). Thank you everybody at SDZ involved with the panda bears to make it possible to us viewers to be sort of part of the panda ” love making” . You are doing such an excellent job!!!
April 24th, 2007 at 10:17 am
Wow – a panda with PMS – who knew!
April 24th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Many thanks to the Meerkats! I could not believe I was so privileged to view the 9:30 a.m. 4/24/07 videocam images. It was just thrilling!
Conversation with Gao Gao #19
Gao Gao: (sings) Oh, what a beautiful morning! Oh, what a beautiful day!
Tourist: Hello, Gao Gao.
G: Uh, hello, Mr. Tourist.
T: And so. You’ve had some pretty exciting moments lately, I hear.
G: Uh huh.
T: And would you like to comment on it?
G: I was so honored.
T: Yes.
G: She was so enchanting…
T: Indeed.
G: So accommodating…
T: Such were her invitations, weren’t they?
G: And her sweet songs…
Bai Yun:
(from the other of the fence, sings from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story)
I feel pretty,
Oh, so pretty,
I feel pretty and witty and bright!
And I pity
Any girl who isn’t me tonight.
I feel charming,
Oh, so charming
It’s alarming how charming I feel!
And so pretty
That I hardly can believe I’m real.
See the pretty girl in that mirror there:
Who can that attractive girl be?
Such a pretty face,
Such a pretty dress,
Such a pretty smile,
Such a pretty me!
I feel stunning
And entrancing,
Feel like running and dancing for joy,
For I’m loved
By a pretty wonderful boy!
April 25th, 2007 at 8:32 am
Oh P. Wong only you could make me laugh and cry at the same time. What a beautiful,sensitive interview. I could just picture Big Daddy with a grin on his face and Bai dancing around with a smile and a sparkle in her eyes. this was the most amazing and rare look into the world of these amazing animals, something that many will never get to experience. I feel truly blessed to have seen it. Thanks to all who have made it possible.
April 25th, 2007 at 10:13 am
Well, I did not get to see any of the ” dates” between our two love birds… but thank you P. Wong for your interview – it brought tears to my eyes – it was just so sweet. I just adore these bears – and I wish them many, many happy years together – and hopefully the pitter patter of baby panda paws soon!