When Polar Bear Plunge was built in 1996, a method for delivering live fish to the main pool on a variable schedule was included: a 10-inch diameter PVC pipe that runs underground from the fish tank behind the exhibit all the way to the front, right by the “point,” as we call it. Well, this system was good in theory but ended up having too many problems; it is now inoperable and no longer used. But the pipe is still there. Mind you, it runs directly into the pool, and therefore we are unable to access it except when we do our pool maintenance, which is about every 18 months. This pipe makes a great place for the polar bears to store things they don’t want us to have!
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Many of you have noticed that giant panda Bai Yun is increasingly absent from the den these days. This is esentially due to the normal development of the relationship between mother and infant. Once a cub has developed a bit of fat to insulate itself and some fur to help keep it warm, the dam is no longer required to hold the infant so close to aid in thermoregulation. This frees the mother panda up to attend to other things, including her own ever-increasing appetite.
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One of the endangered Hawaii forest bird species that has been identified as a priority species for recovery is the palila, a highland honeycreeper that survives on the slopes of Mauna Kea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii (see previous blog, Released Palila Breed on Mauna Kea). In an effort to accelerate the captive propagation and release program, permits were issued to collect five wild birds to bolster and diversify our captive flock. Led by the biologists of the Biological Resources Discipline of the U.S. Geological Survey, two male, two female, and one unsexed bird were mist-netted and brought to the Keauhou Bird Conservation Center (KBCC) for quarantine.
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As many of you are aware, the San Diego Zoo is embarking on a new project, Elephant Odyssey, to provide an updated area for not only our elephants but many other species of animals and plants here at the Zoo. To accommodate this, an exciting new bus route has been instituted for the safety of all and to facilitate the construction project on Horn & Hoof Mesa: our tour buses are driving up Panda Canyon.
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Isa the fossa is growing fast (see previous blog, Curious Little Fossa). He is going for walks with the trainers almost daily and getting better and better all the time. Most times, getting his harness on is like leashing up a live fish, but occasionally he surprises us and holds still for the event.
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Greetings once and for all. Friday, August 31, marked the end of my 12-week internship working with the koala females at the San Diego Zoo (see previous blog, A Female Koala in Summer Heat). I will miss spending early mornings watching Cooladi sleep and late evenings watching the exhibit girls interact. I will miss the crisp scent of eucalyptus leaves and the sonorous male bellows.
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Gender determination in a panda cub is not an easy task. Their organs are very tiny, and there are folds of skin in the area that complicate the issue to some degree (the tiny scent gland, perhaps?). It’s not necessarily obvious what the sex might be, and unfortunately this cub is proving particularly tricky. Even some of our own previous cubs have had their gender more readily verified than our current little one. Our vets do have an idea of what the gender is for our current cub; they simply are not ready to confirm with 100-percent certainty that they are correct.
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Today was the panda cub’s third veterinary check (video now posted) and the first one I have had the opportunity to observe. Although I have seen this little panda an awful lot on camera, it was nice to finally get to see it in the flesh!
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Well, it may officially be the end of summer but it sure doesn’t feel like it. We have had some fairly hot days in the past few weeks. I myself just got back from a little family vacation camping on a beach. A good portion of every day was spent playing in the water. I decided that before I headed back to work, I would log onto our Polar Cam and check out the bears. I see that they, too, seem to be spending quite a bit of time in the water.
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As promised, I said I would write a blog when our hippopotamuses Jabba and Funani were reintroduced at the San Diego Zoo (see Nerissa’s blog, Jazi the Hippo Moves to Texas). Well, we couldn’t be more pleased to announce that the introduction went very smoothly, and the two seem to be working out their differences nicely. On Thursday, August 23, very early in the morning, Funani was given access to the big outdoor pool. A couple of minutes later, Jabba also emerged from the bedroom and headed toward the pool. They immediately saw one another and, as Jabba made his way into the pool, Funani came over to establish some ground rules! They locked mouths a couple of times in the next hour but it all looked mostly for show. Jabba finally made his way to the far end of the pool and Funani rightfully claimed her place on the rock, front and center.
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