Comments on: Fire Update from the Panda Station

By: LULU

LULU — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 00:51:45 +0000

I’m glad SDZ is spared from the fires. That just proves that God is watching and that SDZ is sacred ground. I’m so happy to learn of the zoo’s new addition, the gorrilas. I hope to see them on gorrila cam someday.

By: Margaret

Margaret — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 03:42:32 +0000

Barbara, thanks for sharing that the news report showed that Punga and Kamile were OK. I have been very concerned about how their young lungs were doing with all the smoke and ash around them. Even though they were safe in their irrigated fields, the air they were breathing was not the best for young animals to breathe.

By: barbara

barbara — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 14:03:13 +0000

Our local TV station did a piece on the fire at the WAP and it was scary to see the condor breeding pens burn and how much of the area was scorched. Then they showed some of the dedicated employees who worked so hard to make sure that the animals were ok.The keepers with masks on were with the elephants and guess who was in front of the gate, Kamile and Punga . You could see some of the smoke but it didn’t seem to bother these little cuties, they were as happy as could be. Thank you for all your dedication to the animals in this time of need.

By: Paula

Paula — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 02:11:21 +0000

Praying for rain and low winds for all of the creatures in the Zoo…and thanks to the dedicated staff and those who have soothed our fears. I will be there in 3 weeks to see your beautiful sanctuary. Stay safe! I certainly hope none of the Zoo staff have lost their homes in this tragedy.

Paula in TX

By: Fabian Goytia

Fabian Goytia — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 01:08:43 +0000

I prayed and thank god that my beloved pandas are okay during all these fires as well as all the other animals as well as staff and vistors. God bless you all and all the hard work you all put in to keeping the anmials and zoo safe. My family will keep our hearts and prayers for you and look forward to visiting again soon. May god bless you all!

By: Chari Mercier

Chari Mercier — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 00:47:16 +0000

Well, you all deserve some congrats on how well you handled this fire situation and crisis. I’m glad that the zoo itself was out of the path of the fires, but I was really nervous thru most of this week for you all! To those of the SDZ staff that went to Wild Animal Park, you all did a great job helping the park staff with keeping the buildings from getting hit by the fires, and making sure the animals were safe. Hope that the worst is over, but never can tell with the kind of winds that blow in from all directions. Haven’t been on the cam today, but did check in on Bai and baby girl yesterday and last nite. I loved it when I saw Bai sitting in the den eating her bamboo while her little girl sleeping at her feet near the doorway. This little cub is really looking more like a panda cub every day! It also seems to me that her ears are starting to pop open. Haven’t seen the vet video yet, but I’ll get to it. I also watched ” Planet in Peril” on CNN the last couple of nites, it was very well made, should get an Emmy nomination, very interesting, and really showed what we, the humans, have done to our planet over the last 100 years since the industrial revolution started, some of this without actually knowing what we were doing until the last 15-20 years. The last 5 years or so has really been a wakeup call thru a very large concert, a movie, and a lot of people letting us know what has happened to our planet. Now, we really need to try to do our part to help these animals and their habitats thru conservation and other ways. This is where you all and other zoos, parks, wildlife sanctuaries come in to get us educated better and help us to understand the consequences of our actions on our planet. This program will be repeated again on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nites on CNN. It’s worth watching again! Gonna go back to the pandacam!
Luv to Bai and Baby girl,
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL

By: G.Davison

G.Davison — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 20:49:06 +0000

Thank you SDZ for keeping everyone updated on the fire and the progress of the animals!!!! I hope this will delay Mei Sheng’s departure to China I would like to enjoy him for a little while longer!! The SDZ makes my day at work a good one!!! Looking forward to the update on the progress of Bai Yun’s newest addition. GOD BLESS each and everyone of you for your hard work to KEEP ALL OF THE ANIMALS SAFE!!!!!!!!

By: Loriann

Loriann — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:53:52 +0000

#62 Liz.. thanks so much for the Google instructions. I lived on Park / Upas, about a 2 minute walk from the Zoo before I left S.D. in late 2003. In the late 90’s, I was neighbors with some of the visiting Chinese keepers. It’s definitely a different view from the aerial perspective rather than what I know by walking/driving/bicycling around my old neighborhood! It really is challenging to be 2,000 miles away with all of this going on- some of my friends in shelters and others staying with relatives or friends, but they’re safe! I can’t belieeeeeeeeeeve what’s going on in the surrounding areas in terms of fire.. this just happened in 10/03 and now again- but so much worse. I know the animals are protected and I’m saddened that wildlife has suffered as a result of these fires. Hopefully, there isn’t too much ash hitting the SDZ, but I know that WAP has been another story. I wish everyone and all the animals safety and well being.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:06:15 +0000

I see even amongst the chaos that chubby cubby had another exam yesterday, looking forward to the new stats….please be safe everyone!

By: Rita

Rita — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 19:01:40 +0000

Glad to hear that the fires are subsiding. Just wanted to write a quick note to thank Mei Sheng for all the hours of joy that he has provided me via the web cam. Such a beautiful, fun loving bear. I wish him well on his journey to his homeland and will surely miss his antics.

My thoughts and prayers are with all of you during this terrible time…..wish that I could send some of the rain falling here now to you.