Gearing Up for Summer
Posted at 11:12 am June 9, 2008 by Michelle Thompson
Spring is coming to an end and summer is just around the corner. So what have our pandas been up to these past spring months and what’s in store for them this summer?
I get a lot of questions about how the pandas cope when the San Diego temperature spikes in the summer months and how our climate compares to that of their natural habitat. Giant pandas live in mountainous regions of China in dense bamboo forests that are commonly shaded with conifers. It is a cool, misty environment. Luckily for our pandas, the microclimate in the canyon where the Giant Panda Research Center is located tends to be cooler than many other places at the San Diego Zoo, especially when a fog bank rolls in.
Our pandas have mister fans, water pools, and plenty of shade so that they can sit back and eat their bamboo in comfort. Also, animals do have the ability to adapt. After all, we even have polar bears that live comfortably at the Zoo!
And how about a cub update? Zhen Zhen is still spending much of the day high up in the tree (as pictured above). However, she has been coming down from the tree from time to time to engage in social play with Bai Yun. Unfortunately for Zhen Zhen, she seems to often catch mom right in the middle of a feeding bout and Bai Yun is more interested in her bamboo than playing with Zhen Zhen. Developmentally, our Zhen Zhen seems to be quite the advanced little panda. She is very good at handling objects and has been engaged in a fair amount of bamboo play, handling the bamboo with a lot of skill for a cub of her age. It is not uncommon to see Zhen Zhen sitting near Bai Yun, amusing herself with a stalk of bamboo, or for Zhen Zhen to grab a little stalk and take it with her up the tree to gnaw on. Most of the time, the bamboo eventually spills out of her mouth but Zhen Zhen has been starting to ingest some bamboo. The keepers started to see bamboo in her stool a bit earlier than any of the other three cubs we have had here at the Zoo.
The transition from nursing to bamboo feeding does not happen overnight. Cubs begin to chew on bamboo and play with bamboo as practice before they actually start ingesting it. They mock their mothers and learn from them to acquire the skills needed to fill their bellies with bamboo, whether it’s learning to efficiently gather all the leaves off of a stalk or strip off the outer layer of the culm to get to the more edible inside. If you have ever seen Bai Yun go through her bamboo pile, you know how down pat her bamboo eating techniques are. She is a great role model for her cubs to follow. As Zhen Zhen begins to eat more and more bamboo and nurses less and less with Bai Yun, she will begin to compete with Bai Yun for bamboo, which is inevitable. I remember watching some entertaining sessions with Su Lin when she got to this point. Bai Yun would hold her cub in place with one paw and eat away holding bamboo in the other paw while the cub ran in place, trying to get to the bamboo pile. I have even seen Bai Yun and her cub in tug-of-war situations over a bamboo stalk!
Su Lin has been as energetic as ever since she has been moved to the back classroom exhibit. I commonly see her hanging from the tree or gamboling around. Gao Gao has also taken his move to the right-side exhibit in stride. Both of their olfactory investigation greatly increased the day of their exhibit swap. Giant pandas leave scent marks, a kind of chemical communication in which the pandas can leave information about themselves for other pandas. So naturally, switching Gao Gao and Su Lin into each other’s previous exhibit created curiosity to investigate what information could be learned about the panda that was previously inhabiting the area.
Another great thing about summer is Nighttime Zoo, which starts June 28. We look forward to seeing all of you here over the summer for extended viewing hours!
Michelle Thompson is a research technician at the San Diego Zoo.
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June 9th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Thanks for the updates Michelle. I love hearing about the Pandas and have missed the daily updates. It is wonderful that they are all doing so well!
Thanks to all the people involved in the Panda care for doing such a good job. Thanks also for the information about the situation in China!!
Looking forward to hearing more info about the Panta antics soon.
Barbara
Montgomery, Alabama
June 9th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Tai Shan and I are both glad that his cuzzin Zoom Zoom is progressing so well! Not to wish Bai Yun any ill will, but Tai Shan also wanted to know if Zoom Zoom has been perfecting her Mommy Ear and Hiney biting skills…..
June 9th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Thanks, Michelle, for a very informative update. When I catch ZZ or Su Lin, they are sleeping. Once in a while I catch Su Lin eating. She looks as dedicated as both of her parents. Glad Mei Sheng and Hua Mei can be in the same facility, and be taken care of by perhaps the same keeper(s). It would be interesting to hear the Chinese perspective of the comparison of how those two adapted to life in China, and to the aftermath of the earthquake.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
” Precious” picture of Zhen in the tree and thanks so much on the update of her and her family.
June 9th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
Thanks so much for taking time out of your busy day to write updates on our precious Pandas. I check Panda Cams at all four US zoos that have these beautiful bears daily. ZZ is such a piece of work. I enjoy watching her grow just as I did Su Lin, Tai Shan at the National Zoo and Mei Lan in Atlanta. Maybe this will be the year for Memphis. Any chance China will send more Pandas to the US in the aftermath of the recent terrible earthquake??? I would love to see Hua Mei and Mei Sheng ” come home” .
June 9th, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Hi! Got lucky again!! Got on the pandacam at around 6:25 pm EDT (3:25 pm PDT) and saw little ZZ up a tree climbing and playing on a tree branch, then started to slowly climb down inspecting branches along the way. She’s becoming an acrobat in the trees! Watched her for about 5 minutes doing her climbing acrobats! Read your update today. Looks like everybody is gearing up for summer. The one thing that no one mentioned is how much little ZZ is weighing now. I bet you that she’s in the 60 pound range by now. Am I right? Might be! Let me know! She is still the fuzzy little cutie that is still growing every day. Gao Gao and Su Lin switching yards must be fun, and both of them are having fun smelling each other’s smells! You mentioned about ZZ playing with bamboo stalks lately. I think I caught her on the cam sometime last week or so literally climbing a tree with a small bamboo stalk in her mouth! Plus, I’ve seen her playing with the boo off and on. She’s just fun to watch no matter what she’s doing!
Well, gonna go and get back on the cam! Gotta see what ZZ is up to now if she’s on it still.
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
Moderator’s note: As of last week, Zhen Zhen weighed 36 pounds.
June 9th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Hey, you guys! Just to let you know that Atlanta Zoo has finally put in their link to the China Earthquake Relief Fund. This was the first time that I have seen it tonite, so they must have done this today. I was on their panda update page when I noticed it. I went YEA!!! Like I said, the more donations sites/links for China and their pandas, the better! So, for all of you from the state of Georgia, check out the Atlanta Zoo website and their panda page, and you will see it on the right side of the page. It will have the info you’ll need to make your donations for China and China’s pandas. No doubt that there are a number of other zoos that don’t have pandas that are joining in on this relief effort as well!
Thought I would share that with you all! Bye!!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
June 9th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Michelle – enjoyed your latest update – think we all knew our Miss Z was going to be ” advanced for her age” whne Bai took her out of the birthing den at such a young age. Seems as pandas get older they are willing to spend more time on the ground & trying to play with Mommy (who by this time is busy eating bamboo & thinking ” LEAVE ME ALONE WHILE I’M EATING” & IF YOU BITE MY EARS ONE MORE TIME I’LL GET YOUR FATHER AFTER YOU!!!!
June 9th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Hi Michelle, I enjoyed reading your update on our SDZ family.
I also love the photo of Zhen at the TOP of the tree. I remember when she first started climbing and trying to get to the tops and now, she’s an ” old” pro! She’s mastered that milestone. She has always seemed the speedy learner.
I love hearing about Su Lin also. So many times ” the middle kids” get left out of the family newsletters. I was talking to a (human) kid this week-end about panda adolescence and mentioned Su Lin being so active and playful. I love the stories like her playing in the rain or up in the trees. The first time I saw her in person was her 1-year-old ” treetop” days. She had pulled off a tree branch and waved it around for a good 30-40 minutes, like she was directing a symphony. I always wondered what music she was hearing in her head.
Maybe P. Wong would know.
The past 2 years I have been at the zoo in the summer. This year it seems like I won’t make it there. (so sad!) I loved Nighttime Zoo and encourage anyone thinking about it, to go and enjoy! It is a great time to watch the pandas, when the crowds are gone and the pandas are enjoing the cooler evening air. I really felt closer to them… maybe because it seemed more like pandas in the wild (and I was on a sort of safari) instead of being in a crowded, commercial zoo. It was something I have only been able to ” feel” at SDZ and it is soooo precious to me!
Love, Joy
June 9th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
Lovely to hear about the Panda Gang again. I’ve caught ZZ, Bai and Gao Gao in some wonderful sleeping positions over the last week. Yesterday it looked like Bai had her rear end in a large tube! They just look so relaxed.
June 10th, 2008 at 3:43 am
ZZ watchers and fans–If you peek on & off during the day you’ll see our fuzzball come down quite often to explore, see if Bai wants to play, sit down adorably with bamboo…often around 12:30 or so (for some reason) she seems to be more on the move. One day last week I saw her nursing mid-afternoon while Bai ate bamboo contentedly, and just a little while later she was in her hammock with a whole bunch of bamboo of her own acting like she was eating it! (and maybe she was!) When she’s playing on the ground I’ll often see Bai patrolling around, going by her cub every few minutes as if checking up on her and sometimes ZZ will do something cute to solicit her mama’s attention to play. Usually Bai keeps going, but occasionally I’ll be rewarded with one of their great play sessions. Last week there was a wonderful midday one with ZZ everywhere, even rolling on and biting the ball next to the viewing wall (late morn). I take a screen shot and paste it into Word to enjoy later (and I can read the time of day). She’s not always in the tree sleeping, that’s for sure! Can’t wait to see her, and the other beautiful pandas and the polars and all the animals at the SDZ again this summer–their pandas have it the best! SDZ rocks!
June 10th, 2008 at 4:41 am
I am heartbroken to learn that Mao Mao is dead from the landslide. We seem to get so many differing news bits every day:
Also Tuesday, staff at the world’s most famous panda reserve buried one of the animals that was killed in a landslide triggered by the quake.
Nine-year-old female Mao Mao was the only panda at the Wolong Giant Panda Reserve confirmed to have died in the quake, said Zhang Hemin, who heads the reserve. The panda’s body was found Monday.
Staff placed Mao Mao in a crate, then buried it and placed a large stone on top.
Mao Mao’s keeper, He Changgui, sobbed softly as he placed apples and a slice of bread on the stone as a funeral offering.
” I will go back to see her every day,” He said.
One other panda, Xiao Xiao, has also been missing since the quake. Forty-seven others still live at Wolong.
June 10th, 2008 at 6:07 am
” After all, we even have polar bears that live comfortably at the Zoo!”
Please note, that is your opinion.
June 10th, 2008 at 6:09 am
I was at the SDZ a month ago and had so much fun watching Zhen Zhen fumble around with the bamboo, put it in her mouth, watch it fall out again and then repeat the same scenario. She knew for some reason that bamboo was supposed to be in her mouth, but wasn’t exactly sure why!
She was down from the tree for 2.5 hours one of the days I was there and was SO entertaining – just nonstop playing with Bai Yun or once again, trying to figure out that bamboo situation! How lucky we are to be a small part of these wonderful creature’s lives!
June 10th, 2008 at 7:33 am
Moderator–thanks for the update on Miss ZZ’s weight. Our little girl is growing up!
June 10th, 2008 at 8:22 am
Hello everyone – Just read a very sad article this morning concerning the death of Mao Mao.
To find this article goggle – Chinese reserve workers mourn panda killed in quake aftermath.
The article includes heartbreaking photos of the panda keepers in obvious pain and grief.
Mao Mao was rescued after the May 12 earthquake, but died after a wall of her enclosure collapsed.
June 10th, 2008 at 9:48 am
How sad to read about Mao Mao. May she rest in peace. I hope her five offspring are thriving and bringing joy to their keepers and everyone else who is privileged to see them. My heart goes out to the keeper who had taken care of Mao Mao since she was 3.
On a happier note, thanks for the update on what the SDZ panda family is doing. During all the tragic news from China, watching Bai, Gao Gao, Su, and Zhen certainly lightened my heart and made me even more grateful for these wonderful animals and the people who take care of them. And the photo of Zhen Zhen relaxing at the very end of the branch is just priceless.
June 10th, 2008 at 10:08 am
I have read a couple of the articles about Mao Mao’s death. Differing stories, but the outcome is still the same. We now know we have 1 less panda in the world. Brings tears to my eyes every time I think of it.
June 10th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Gao Gao is rolling in his sawdust pile right now. He looks just like a kid having so much fun. Is this one of his special treats or is it a way to clean his coat like some birds do with sand? It is such fun to watch him though.
June 10th, 2008 at 11:24 am
Now the big guy is sound asleep on his sawdust pile… Guess he got tuckered out rolling around in it..
Loved the update on our bears at the SDZ, and especially the picture of Zhen way up in her fav spot… It amazes me how she can balance herself and stay up there without falling. I’m sure at times she gives her keepers ” grey” hairs…
Was also deeply saddened to hear of Mao Mao’s death, how tragic. God Bless her in Heaven and may her keeper find comfort in all of her cubs. It truly is amazing how all of us get so attached to these bears even without ever coming in contact with them. We can only imagine the grief her keeper is feeling. I agree with Margot #17, we can log onto the web cams and see how our bears are doing, and how can it not lift our hearts??
K, going to go back and see if Gao Gao has moved or if he is still flat on his belly… Such a funny sleeping position….. He sure does have it mastered though..
June 10th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Many thanks for the newsy update on our pandas. I was fortunate enough to see them in early May. Got some great photos of Gao licking honey off a log with a look of pure bliss on his face. They are now framed and in my living room for all to enjoy. Also took some videos of Zhen Zhen rolling around and tumbling into the moat. Priceless! My pevious two panda viewings were in LA when the first pandas were brought to visit, twenty-plus years ago, and in SD in 1987. Both times were hours-long waits in lines to see… sleeping pandas! So to be able to see them playing around was a blessing. Thanks for puting up the link so we can donate to the recovery efforts in China. And thanks for taking such good care of the San Diego Four!
June 10th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
Betty #21, you mentioned your favorite memories of visiting the pandas, and here are mine. The first time I got to visit the SDZ, Su Lin was sleeping in a tree, and the branch location she chose looked close enough to reach out and stroke her fur. It appeared to be nearly right above the viewing walkway. Momma Bai Yun was contentedly munching away on a bamboo feast, and brother Mei Sheng was snoozing in the right side enclosure. I was able to get much closer and enjoy the pandas more than my previous panda viewing experience at the Beijing Zoo earlier that year.
The next time I visited the SDZ and the pandas was nearly a year later. Su Lin had been weaned, and both adults were off exhibit as Mei Sheng’s departure to China was close approaching. As I made my way down to the canyon area I could see Mei Sheng high in his favorite tree. It was right after the zoo had opened for the day, and the crowds were still very light. Su Lin was sitting at the back of the left-hand exhibit snacking away on her bamboo. I was the only one in the viewing area, and when I said her name, Su Lin looked directly at me and gave me a big grin – priceless! That image is now on the face of my credit card
Meanwhile big brother Mei Sheng was still up in his tree, but I managed to get his attention too for another priceless photo and memory of him looking down at me from above with his usual smile.
The intelligence, antics, and captivating personalities of these wonderful animals are just a few of the many reasons why love giant pandas.
June 10th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Zhen is 36 pounds! WOW!! I think my guess of about 60 pounds was way off, wasn’t it?? Oh well, she’s still growing and going! And, ZZ is 10 months old! She’s always the cute, fuzzy, little furball that always keeping people guessing where she’s at when you try to catch her on the cam! We all love you, Miss ZZ!!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 6th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
I have been trying to get the information photo of Mei Sheng to come onto the screen. All the others are working but not” my baby boy’s” . Can someone fix it as I need his birthdate. I am so happy he and his sister are ok in China. I cannot say enough good things about the care their ” Keepers” are providing. Boy-o- Boy, do I ever miss him and his beautiful smile (he was the first cub I ever saw from birth on). I love all the Pandas but Mei Sheng will always top my list! Blessings to all of you too! Claudia Menke
Moderator’s note: We’ll fix the pop-up box on Mei Sheng’s profile (you can click on his image to get the pop-up box). He was born August 19, 2003.