Congratulations, Guo Guo!
Posted at 1:55 pm July 21, 2008 by Jennifer Keating
On July 7, 2008, giant panda female Guo Guo gave birth to twins. Guo Guo is an earthquake survivor that was moved to Bifengxia from Wolong just shortly after the earthquake in China. The birth of her twins was the first post-earthquake birth this year.
When I arrived in Wolong, China on March 6, 2008, staff informed me that Guo Guo was a few days away from being ready to breed. This was wonderful news! I was very excited to start collecting data. The next day I got up early and camped out near Guo Guo’s exhibit. I wanted to observe her behavior closely to get a baseline as to what was to come over the next few months. My other goal was to watch what the keepers did with her throughout the breeding process. Due to the fact that I couldn’t speak Chinese and their English was limited, visual observations of the keepers’ actions were key to knowing what was actually going on. As I observed this process over and over during my stay in China, the keepers began to think I could understand Chinese, but it was really their behaviors that I understood.
Guo Guo cleans food crumbs from her belly after her breeding session.
Throughout the day, Guo Guo was moved to the other end of the breeding center so she could be between Lu Lu and Qing Qing, two male giant pandas. Introductions between Guo Guo and the males were going well enough that the keepers set up a breeding plan. At 11:20 a.m. on March 8, keepers let Lu Lu out with Guo Guo for a breeding session. After 20 minutes with no successful breeding, keepers separated the giant pandas. Now the focus was on Qing Qing, because Guo Guo disliked the other male giant pandas at the facility! Shortly after Guo Guo’s separation from Lu Lu she was introduced to Qing Qing’s exhibit. With extensive chatter between all the staff, Qing Qing was released from his den to be with Guo Guo. This turned out to be a very successful breeding! You could hear the cheering from all the keepers throughout the entire facility the moment the giant pandas were separated.
Guo Guo successfully mated with Qing Qing again the following day. Guo Guo’s cubs were a product of natural mating and Qing Qing is definitely the father! This is a huge success for the giant pandas and all the research that has lead to this outcome. Guo Guo has overcome a great deal of stress due to the earthquake and transportation to a new facility, and it is amazing that she has done so well. I have spoken with Guo Guo’s keeper this week and she reports that both Guo Guo and her cubs are doing great!
Jennifer Keating is a research scientist at the San Diego Zoo.
See her previous blog, Success in Wolong.
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July 21st, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Great news! Thank you for the lovely update. Is it a Chinese tradition that the cubs will be named on the 100th day of their lives?
July 21st, 2008 at 3:03 pm
Yay! More cubs!
So far, it seems that the panda moms have not been permanently affected by the trauma of the quake and their subsequent transfer to new surroundings–which is great news.
I’m surprised to see both cubs in the incubator–does she still get to nurse and cuddle them in shifts?
July 21st, 2008 at 4:28 pm
What wonderful news this first birth of the season was! A new birth has even more meaning in the wake of the earthquake. It would be fitting to name one of the cubs Mao Mao after the panda killed as a result of the quake.
July 21st, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Hi, i’ve been reading your articles long time ago. Thank you so much. I’m in China now and just want to tell you a good news. The panda” Longxin” just gave the birth to another twin cab this morning at Wolong. They were both in very good health now.
July 21st, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Thanks for the personal story. What a thrill to have new panda cubs out of the devastation of the earthquakes, etc. I hope they get named symbolically for the triumph they are despite the tremendous trials their Mom and human ” moms” went through.
Guo Guo is definitely a panda heroine!!!
and thanks for the update from their keeper.
Love, Joy
July 21st, 2008 at 8:23 pm
CONGRATS TO GUO GUO AND WOLONG/BIFENGXIA STAFF! At least the earthquake did not affect Guo Guo during her pregnancy and giving birth to the 2 cutest, tiny cubs that I’ve seen so far (the 2 pics with the article). I do hope that Guo will be able to take care of both babies in shifts, and knowing how the Wolong staff has that set up from what I’ve read, they will make sure that Guo will be able to be a good mom to both of them. Along with Xing Long and Ying Ying, Wolong Reserve has 5 new cubs! Hopefully, more will be coming, but the jury is still out on the other female pandas that are possibly pregnant. I thought that all of the pandas had AI procedures, but it looks like Guo Guo and Qing Qing were able to beat the odds on natural mating. That is great news! Guo just needed to be with the right guy to let it happen. Reminds us of Bai Yun and Gao Gao, doesn’t it? Still, AI procedures are very important in helping the panda population increase in numbers. So, I’m still hoping and praying that the other Wolong female pandas will have their babies in the next few days and weeks. Wolong and Bifengxia staff will be getting a little busier as they keep watch on their prized momma pandas!
Well, gonna go. Need to check on both the SDZ and NZ pandacams!
Chari Mercier
St. Petersburg, FL
July 21st, 2008 at 9:16 pm
I so hope pandas at either NZ or AZ will give birth to twins this year. I’m also very nervous. Does either NZ or AZ have the experience to handle twins? The American zoos usually have a very hands-off approach in raising cubs. Chinese zoos interfere much early. Without the baby-swapping technique, only one cub can survive. I’m wondering how NZ or AZ can find natural panda milk if they have to hand-rear one cub.
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:15 am
Jennifer, thank you for this wonderful update. The babies are just beautiful and they look very healthy,with all that Guo Guo has gone through these babies are a miracle, and with the other births after these, this just proves there is a Panda God after all keeping our beloved Pandas safe and healthy.It’s people like you Jennifer that helps us understand the mysteries of these beloved animals and ensures future generations.
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:30 am
Good news indeed!
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:42 am
Congrats to all Panda Fans, keepers and everyone that looks after these glorious bears. Oh, and Congrats to Momma Panda Guo Guo too…… How nice to have a set of twins born after the death and destruction that fell upon China and the Wolong Center.
If this birth doesn’t give us all hope that this species will survive then nothing will.
What a wonderful blog, thankyou so much Jennifer. Glad to hear that Mom and babies are doing well.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:09 am
More Panda Births this week: Congratulations to Longxin who gave birth to twins 7/21/08. Another giant panda Guoguo gave birth to the first pair of panda twins this year on July 6.
Panda Twins Born in Wolong (cri) Updated: 2008-07-22 09:32
A panda at the Wolong-based Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in southwest China’s Sichuan province has given birth to twins in the early morning on Monday, China News Service reported.
The cub in the picture is one of the twins born by the giant panda Longxin at the Wolong-based Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in southwest China’s Sichuan province on Monday, July 21, 2008.
The mother named Longxin and her baby pandas are safe and sound according to the forestry bureau of Sichuan province.
Longxin was born in August 2000 and became pregnant on March 29 this year in Wolong. She has been transferred to Ya’an, a city in Sichuan, after the earthquake hit Wenchuan County where the giant panda center is located.
Another giant panda Guoguo was transferred together with Longxin, who herself gave birth to the first pair of panda twins this year on July 6.
So far this year, five pandas, including two pairs of twins, have been born at the Wolong-based Giant Panda Protection and Research Center.
http colon backslash backslash www dot chinadaily dot com dot cn backslash china backslash 2008-07 backslash 22 backslash content_6866478e dot htm
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:14 am
Wolong Update: Wolong Evacuation completed for pandas from quake-hit Sichuan
www dot chinaview dot cn 2008-07-22 Special report: Reconstruction After Earthquake
HANYUAN, Sichuan, July 22 (Xinhua) — The last group of giant pandas scheduled to leave the Wolong nature reserve in southwest China’s Sichuan Province departed their quake-shattered base for foster homes on Tuesday.
On Monday night, 13 pandas arrived at the Bifengxia panda preservation base in Ya’an County, Sichuan, after a day’s trip over two mountains.
At the time of the earthquake, on May 12, there were 86 pandas at Wolong, also known as the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda.
Ya’an is the nearest place able to take in pandas. It received six of the bears 11 days after the 8.0-magnitude quake, which severely damaged the Wolong site. One of those pandas, Guo Guo, this month became the first of the species to give birth in captivity this year.
Ya’an prepared 16 panda pens of about 100 square meters each and a ” kindergarten” of 300 square meters for the newcomers.
The Wolong reserve said it would keep seven panda cubs that were born last year. The reserve built a new panda house near the town seat of Wolong for the little ones.
The Wolong base, only 30 km from the quake’s epicenter of Wenchuan County, suffered severe damage in the earthquake with the death of five staff and one panda. Fourteen of the 32 pens were destroyed.
In addition to Ya’an, Wolong pandas were moved to the panda research bases in east China’s Fujian and southwest China’s Yunnan and southern Guangdong provinces for foster care. The Beijing zoo also ” borrowed” eight pandas from Wolong to add cheer to the Olympics this summer.
The Wolong base is still prone to secondary geological disasters such as landslides and mud-rock flows.
The State Forestry Administration is deliberating a rebuilding plan of the reserve, which was proposed to move the research center from the Hetaoping base to Huangcaoping, which is also in the reserve.
The new research center includes a 650-square meter lab, a panda hospital, a 1,500-square meter cub pen, a bamboo plantation and a site where pandas can be introduced to wildlife, according to the plan jointly drawn up by the administration of the Wolong reserve, Beijing University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Zhang Hemin, head of the Wolong reserve, told Xinhua that the plan was the best by far among several options. The rebuilding would be completed by 2015, if the plan was approved, he said.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:33 am
Congratulations!! ~^^
Guo Guo is the daughter of Jia Jia, the giant panda living in Ocean Park of Hong Kong. We are so happy to hear the good news from Wolong.
Jia Jia is one of the oldest giant pandas in the world. She is now 30 years old but stays very healthy.
Bravo to Jia Jia, Guo Guo and the new born lovely cubbies.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:54 am
How sweet the panda cubs look! I also hope that mama Guo Guo gets to help raise them. Congrats to all involved to help this take place. The waiting game is on at NZ now with Mei Xiang. She is bringing bamboo into her favorite birthing spot. I check in on her several times a day. Can’t wait!
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:58 am
How wonderful!! See, shows you that females are picky! They want the right man for the job.
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:29 am
Happy Birthday to Mei Xiang, she is 10 years old today and it would be nice if she gave herself a little cubbie or two as a birthday gift. Maybe she wants the spotlight all to her self
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Thanks, Jennifer for a first hand report of the breeding that resulted in the birth of the twins. So far they have 3 cubs from pandas formerly at Wolong.
Another Wolong panda has a birthday today. Happy 10th birthday Mei Xiang at NZP. We are hoping she will have a cub in her birthday month, if not specifically on her birthday. Her only cub so far, Tai Shan, turned 3 on July 9.
Tian Tian has a birthday soon as well, and hopefully he can celebrate as a new dad.
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:08 pm
Great job Guo Guo and all the other pandas who have blessed us with beauitful little cubs. I hope we have some little cubbies here soon also.
July 22nd, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Isn’t that little cub peeking out of the ‘window’ of the inCUBator the cutest little thing ?(even if it is still blind, it looks like it’s peeking)…It’s summer and cub fever is on!! (the kind invented in China, not the kind in Chicago!) YAY for the 5 so far and here’s hoping there’s more, including 1 or 2 at NZ. I’m sure they are well prepared for the possibility of twins so don’t worry about logistics, they’re pros and have the SDZoo and China as ready consultants! We should be so lucky for a US born set of twins!! SDZoo formulated the panda cub ‘milk’ that most closely replicates mother panda’s, used in China, didn’t they?
THANKS JENNIFER for your account of the origin of these little darlings, and for the really interesting presentation at our breakfast complete with panda sounds! I highly recommend the San Diego Zoo’s behind-the-scenes events such as the recent ‘Polars, Pandas and Pancakes’, they go out of their way to entertain, educate and delight visitors with stories and seeing the animals close-up and personal! Hope you all got my card of thanks, it was THE most fun! You SDZ folks are the best, it was totally awesome!
July 22nd, 2008 at 3:11 pm
#7 wolongnews brings up an interesting point. I had emailed NZ asking them to do a blog concerning how they would handle the birth of twin panda cubs. They did not really respond in detail. I was not aware that twin cubs were given natural panda milk when in the incubator. SDZ, could someone please address this issue? Are twins given natural panda milk, some type of formula, or some other nutrient solution when they are in the incubator and not nursing naturally from the mother?
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Jennifer – thanks for your uplifting info about the first panda births this year & the happy news continues as other bloggers have reported more births this month.
#3 Carole – agree it would be fitting to name one of the cubs in memory of Mao.
As today is Mei Xiang’s 10th birthday, I’d like to say she is sure keeping everyone in suspense. The NZ’s latest update lists some of the minute by minute observations by their dedicated birth watch volunteers. It’s been almost 2 weeks since many of us thought she was ready to deliver & here we are still waiting & wondering.
There has been some concern expressed about the NZ being able to take care of twins – I wouldn’t worry – am sure the NZ will pull out all the stops & ask for help & advice from all their colleagues. And if memory serves me it was the SDZ that came up with the panda milk formula.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Marti in OR & Sharon,
It’s true that SDZoo formulated the panda cub “milk’. But to my limited knowledge, no panda cub has survived in capativity(living longer than half a year??) without taking natural panda milk for the first few weeks. The panda cub ‘milk’ does not contain some critical nourishment of its mother’s milk to help establish cubs’ immune system.
In Chinese zoos, if twins are born, keepers quickly move one cub into an incubator, they will then feed the cub with mother’s milk being carefully collected from the mother. I saw videos/photos in which keepers tried to squeeze some precious milk from the mother. The task is very delicate and dangerous. After feeding the cub in incubator for 24 to 72 hours, they will then swap it with the other cub being breast fed by the mother.
I am very worried that NZ does not have the experience for such manuvre. The panda experts in American zoos seem to adopt a philosophy that mimicking the natural behavior of wild pandas is paramount. They do not want to intervenue to exam the cubs until a few weeks, sometimes, a month. In Chinese zoo, the keepers will take out the cub for examination after maybe 72 hours. In Wolong, cubs are forced to be weaned from their mothers after six months in order for their mothers to get into breeding again next year, in American zoos, cubs are naturally weaned, and there’s no way the mother panda will breed again the following year.
So I’m kind of curious and concerned about the approach NZ or AZ will take if twins are born. Will they take an hands-off approach and assume it’s okay if one cub dies? Since in the wild, it’s almost unheard of that a mother have succeeded in raising twin cubs. I hope i’m wrong, but I do believe if NZ keepers don’t have the experience in getting natural milk from the mother panda for the first few days, it’s almost certain the cub in the incubator will not survive by just drinking man-made panda milk?
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:11 pm
BTW, I did read somewhere the twin panda cubs born in a Japanese zoo were raised successfully solely by their mother without intervention by human, at least in the first few days? weeks?
I’m just curious whether some experts here can address this issue. It’s going to be very interesting. Usually, the mother will drop one cub when twins are born.
July 23rd, 2008 at 8:01 am
Congratulations to Guo Guo and all the keepers. The little cubs bring huge hope to all of us. These are the cutest pics of cubs I have ever seen.
For all animal, especially big cat, lovers, there is an extraordinary video clip on youtube. Searh for ” Christian the lion” . It is about two young Australian men bought a lion cub in ” exotic animal” shop in London in the late 60s. They raised him and reintroduced him back to the wild in his native Africa. A few years later, they had a reunion with the lion cub they raised, named Christian, who was the head of a pride by then and totally wild. You should see the happniess of both the lion and men when they were hugging and crying at the same time of the sight of each other. Christian also brought one of the lionesses of his pride to meet his human family. It is amazing that pure love could exist between man and lion. It proves once again animals are a lot more intelligent than most people think and they are capable of returning the love shown to them.
MSN also has a moving article of the background of this lion and men reunion
today(dot)msnbc(dot)msn(dot)com slash id slash 25797678 slash ?GT1=43001
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:36 am
I watched the Msnbc video of the men and lion reunion that Cheng #24 mentioned and it’s on you tube also and has had over 3 million hits. Be prepared, do you know what it’s like to sob at your desk during work hours. This is at least 39 years old and you really have to read the whole story. George Adamson of Born Free fame help reintroduce this lion into Africa. I spent the morning watching Mei and she really is keeping us in suspense, I know that this is a little off topic but it is something that needs to be heard, with the economy the way it is alot of small zoo’s are have a hard time, please try and supprt your local zoo’s. The article that I read was about a Florida zoo that may have to close and have to find places for alot of animals. Thank you
July 23rd, 2008 at 10:45 am
Does anyone know if Mei went through what she is now when she wasn’t pregnant? She’s beginning to hurt my heart!
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:02 am
# 23 – I’m curious too, because MeiMei ( Adventure World Japan) raised by herself, 2 set of twins:
1- Ruyhin and Shuhim, born in september 2003
2- Aihin and Meihin, born in december 2006.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:13 pm
#13 Anita from Hong Kong, is Basi still at Ocean Park in Hong Kong? I think that is where she was residing last I heard two years ago when she celebrated her 25th birthday. She was the first female panda to visit SDZ in 1987.
July 23rd, 2008 at 1:19 pm
#27
Elisa In São Paulo,
I hope to learn more on this topic!! I’m wondering how ‘Meimei’ was able to raise two sets of twins all by herself. I remember reading some articles saying only one cub can survive in the wild…
Guo Guo did try to cuddle/feed both twins, but the Chinese zoo keepers intervened and took one cub away from her.
July 23rd, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Hello All,
I thought I’d mention that now that we have been watching and waiting for Mei Xiang to give us a hint, we need to remember back to June-July 2007. There are two articles about Bai Yun in the archives that would be great to re-read. One in June and one in July. A year ago we were watching Momma Bai sleep in the most contorted positions either in her bedroom or on the climbing structure on her patio area. Was she? Wasn’t She? It seemed like a month or more ….it was
Then Zhen Zhen arrived 
We will just have to wait a bit longer for Mei Xiang to let us know. Keep up the good hope 
July 23rd, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Hello all,
Regarding the twin pandas in Japan – Mama MeiMei raising the twins on her own – if you go to youtube dot com and search for panda twins, you will see some recent postings of videos from early 2007 when the twins were just a few months old. You’ll see what a laid back mother MeiMei appears to be and you’ll see the twins nursing together on some of the videos while MeiMei just dozes on her back.
As #27 Elisa in Sao Paulo indicates, MeiMei appears to have raised two sets of twins already. I believe the first set have both gone back to China.
Also, the first photo published in December 2006 right after MeiMei had the twins shows her holding both of them in her arms while her keeper is feeding her from a bowl. I agree, it would be very interesting to find out how MeiMei managed this seemingly impossible feat. Anyone care to share some research?
July 23rd, 2008 at 6:41 pm
wolongnews #29–are the keepers rotating Guo Guo’s cubs, or is she only raising the one? The picture of her carrying the newborn cub around in her mouth that is seen in many of the articles about her makes her look so happy and proud of herself!
Cheng #24–thanks for directing us to the story about the lion. I had seen some of the video before but hadn’t known the whole story.
July 23rd, 2008 at 9:43 pm
THE REAL “KUNG FU’ PANDAS
The birth of baby pandas in the aftermath of the massive Wenchuan earthquake that seriously threatened the survival of the pandas as a species, goes to show that the pandas led by heroine mama Guoguo is NOT GIVING UP WITHOUT A FIGHT. Well done everyone, from panda keepers to panda lovers everywhere! And to the baby pandas, welcome to the world!
THE WORLD JOYOUSLY WELCOMES YOU AND AWAITS MORE BIRTHS TO COME!
July 24th, 2008 at 6:47 am
Jennifer, thank you for another heartwarming and professional report, now on Guo Guo’s twin cubs. They look so cute, yet very fragile. Congratulations to their keepers and other staff who made it possible for Guo Guo to deliver healthy twin cubs despite the horrible earthquake experience she had been exposed to. I am sure that, with the help of her keepers, she will be able to raise two beautiful and healthy panda cubs that are so precious for the gene pool. Yes, we have to be patient with Mei Xiang, let’s keep fingers crossed that all will go well!
July 24th, 2008 at 7:45 am
As we all watch and wait and pop back and forth between the cams I thought I would comment on a funny moment this morning. If you haven’t had the fortune to come across Daniel’s multiple panda cam feeds, it is great. This morning there was a shot of 5 cams and all pandas were getting in the morning siestas. Even our Miss Zoom Zoom was high up in her tree, but the wonderful staff at SD had a wonderful close up of her. Thanks!
July 24th, 2008 at 10:09 am
I agree completely with Bobbie #30 – hang in there, folks. Last year we all wanted Bai Yun to have her cub on Su Lin’s birthday, August 2nd. Zhen Zhen (or perhaps Bai Yun?) had other ideas, though, and must have decided she wanted a birthday all to herself. The suspense is making me nutty!
Caught Miss Z practicing her panda tai chi in a tree this morning and am continually amazed how she can roll around up there without hurting herself. Thanks, meerkats for the view!
July 24th, 2008 at 11:04 am
Hi! Just checked the pandacams. SDZ cam was on Gao Gao right now. Could barely see his head as he was sitting in the shade. Checked the cam last nite and it was on Su Lin’s cam then switched to Gao Gao’s cam. Neither one were in the area when I looked in on them. Also just checked the NZ cam and Mei Xiang was on her favorite spot on the rock work inside her enclosure. New updates are up for July 23 on both the panda page and pregnancy watch page about Mei Xiang. The pregnancy watch update has a new chart that shows her progestin levels have been dropping. The regular panda update has a very good explanation of her pregnancy behaviors. Good reading! I also signed up for the NZ email newsletter so that I can get more updates about Mei Xiang. I read that someone else also has been getting them as well. If we have anything new about Mei Xiang, we will let all of you know! Will also be checking in on the AZ pandacam and updates about Lun Lun.
Linda A., it is a Chinese tradition to name the panda cubs on their 100th day birthday. All 3 zoos–San Diego, National, and Atlanta–have followed that tradition when they named their cubs. About Mei Xiang’s pregnancy behaviors last year, I believe from reading those 2007 updates that she exhibited some of those behaviors before they found out that she actually had a pseudopregnancy–no cub. Then, she abruptly stopped those behaviors after both the estrogin and progestin levels finally went down to base line. So, just keep your fingers crossed and keep praying that Mei Xiang and Lun Lun will have baby cubs! I know how you are feeling about the suspense and anxiousness! Both of these girls are keeping us in stitches!!
Cheng and Barbara, I also saw that video about the 2 guys and their reunion with the lion that they raised and reintroduced back to Africa. Thanks for remembering George Adamson from the true life movie ” Born Free” . He and his wife were the pioneers of reintroducing orphaned lions back into the African wild that started with Elsa. The second movie was the true story of their fantastic reunion with Elsa a few years later after she was successful in hunting and having her own cubs. It’s always emotional when you see something like this, and you have to remember that animals of all kinds do have very good memories of their human caretakers that have helped take care of them with love even after being out in the wild for a few years or so. This MSN video was just another example of that love between 2 former caretakers and the lion that they cared for.
Gonna go and check the cams again.
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 24th, 2008 at 11:30 am
Marti #19 – Lovely to meet you at the panda and polar bear breakfast. It really was a fantastic day wasn’t it? I’ve only been back home two days, trying to get the woolly feeling out of my head and catching up on my sleep and have just caught up with the cams, though we did look in a couple of times at the hotel.
Jennifer, thank you for the lovely article on Guo Guo, what a lovely picture of the little ones. And thank you very much for your interesting panda talk at the breakfast. I hope your pictures with the cheetah came out well – we haven’t looked at ours yet, we want to put them on the TV and make an evening of it. I also had an interesting encounter with a warthog at the wildlife park – he liked my white jeans and planted a big kiss on them. I think they may be trying white in their training now! (Always glad to help!!)
Would you believe that every time we went to the zoo – 5 days – Zhen Zhen was up her tree sleeping. And on the day we were leaving we looked on the cam at the hotel to find her and Bai having a great time with what looked like a stuffed sack. Bai would not let ZZ play with it and threw her off a couple of times, with ZZ literally doing a head over heels with the whack that she got.
I think I’ve bought the contents of the gift shops and wish I had the room for more. I bought the lovely childrens book The Panda Who Would Not Eat – one for me and one for a neighbours children – I enjoyed reading it. You have so many animals and birds that we just can’t have in our zoos over here and both my daughter and myself had a fantastic time. The SDZ has to be the best Zoo I have ever been to. I even managed to lose 7lbs climbing those hills. Another two weeks and I’d have been running up them!
Thank you everyone who made our stay so memorable – Kym, Jennifer, Angie, John, Pam and all the others whose names I cannot remember at the moment – you all know who you are. And thanks to the stars – the animals.
Moderator’s note: We’ve all been waiting to hear about your trip–thank you for sharing, Susan!
July 24th, 2008 at 11:45 am
I hope I’m wrong but it seems like Mei may be experiencing a pseudopregnancy. Please prove that I’m so wrong…
July 24th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
To Susan #38:
Wishing you a welcome home to pandaland. I hope your trip was great in all respects! Truly, I know how frustrating it is to have that little Zhen sleeping when visiting. I was hoping that you and your daughter would visit at multiple times during each trip to the SDZ. It’s really like playing poker in a way. Sometimes you get lucky. I hope you got to see the baby flamingos and the crazy little meercats and the otters and the grizzlies and the red river hog babies and the polar bears
And the albino python and the hippos and the Koalas and the Koi and also the peacocks 
Tell us more 
Today at around 1:15 Pacific time, I checked up on Miss Intrepid. Today she was playing ‘bungee-bear’.
The visitors got a show 
She went out on a couple really thin tree limbs and proceeded to slide to the very end and let gravity send her falling to the ground. As soon as she headed to the tree to climb back up, Bai blocked her access! Zhen wanted none of that so she played ‘attack-mom’ until Bai swatted her. Zhen then trotted over to the wading pool and walked into the water
July 24th, 2008 at 6:12 pm
Frances in NYC #32,
Yeah, they did rotate the twins. The wolong zoo keepers have perfected the ‘cub swapping’ technique, and the infant mortality rate is now down to almost zero, which is a miracle considering over 50% of panda cubs died in capativity a few years ago. The key finding is that cubs must drink natural panda milk for the first few weeks otherwise it’s almost certain they will not survive beyond 6 months.
The NZ’s panda keeps me nervous!! The hope is dimming that she’ll have a baby, the hormone level is almost down to baseline, and they still haven’t found anything in her womb during ultrasound scan!
Pray for a surprise!
July 24th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Hi! I know it’s real late (1:30am EDT in Fla.), but I just checked in on the NZ pandacam a few minutes ago, and cams 1 and 2 were on Mei Xiang, who was sleeping on her platform in her den. Also, it looks like the NZ keepers are starting to write up updates on an everyday basis because they wrote 2 new updates for July 24–one on the main panda page and one on the pregnancy watch page with a new chart. They’ve been describing Mei’s pregnancy behaviors with the timelines again. They finally were able to do an ultrasound on Mei Xiang but didn’t say anything on what they’ve found inside Mei. As one of the NZ keepers said, Mei is really keeping them guessing and being consistantly inconsistant on her behaviors. I would not be surprised that Lun Lun in Atlanta is probably doing the same thing with the keepers there! Both of these girls are really keeping us in suspense at best! I’m glad that Susan from the UK had a great time in the US visiting SDZ, and she was able to come to the states despite the economic stress that everybody has been feeling lately. Susan, hope that you were able to take home alot of good memories and pics during your stay! Just read her comments about her visit.
Well, I’m going to do one more check on the SDZ and NZ cams before going to bed. I’ll be up again tomorrow to check the cams again! Nite everybody!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 24th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Bobbie #40 – Our trip was fantastic. We went many times to the pandas but I think Zhen saw us coming! Su Lin put on her usual smiley face and entertained us. At the breakfast someone noticed the tree outside the window shaking and we all rushed to the window to find Su Lin climbing up to the top almost level with us and settling down for a sleep. Needless to say breakfast was forgotten for 5 minutes while we all took photos. Bai trotted around and settled herself down in front of us to eat her bamboo in a most flamboyant manner. Isn’t it noisy stuff. At least we got to see Bai and ZZ together at the breakfast and they did play for us on the big tree stump. Mum was being fed at the gate a few feet away from us and ZZ came up and wanted a feed but Bai was too busy with her keeper to bother with her. Gao Gao was so sweet. He demonstrated, without asking, at least 7 or 8 times how he puts his arm in so his blood can be taken. And how he rolls over for an exam. What a sweet little bear he is.
We saw some baby flamingoes; by the time we got to the end of our stay the ” volcano” nests had disintegrated. My daughter’s favourite place was the Children’s Zoo and I must admit I liked it too. We always checked for the alligator turtle thing at the beginning which was usually lurking in the shade, then the noisy blue parrots with the squirrels and sparrows (so that’s where all our sparrows have gone) stealing their food. We adored the mouse bread house – what a brilliant idea, and those little otters are great. The one that has been hand reared is so gorgeous and took a fancy to my daughter: just to the left of the outside viewing area is a small perspex viewing window and my daughter went there and the otter saw her and rushed over being all silly and rolling over and putting his paws on the window. My daughter was squealing with delight. Then there are the Fossas. We spent ages just watching them. One of my favourites, apart from everything else, were the meerkats. Tripod and her gang kept us entertained for ever. I was amazed how many people didn’t know what they were!
The koalas are hilarious. Once we realised they are only awake first thing we went there on our way to Bear Canyon. It’s feeding time so they wake up. I was so lucky to catch one of them lose it’s grip and hang like grim death to the branch whilst looking round (and those of you with cats will know this one) saying ” I meant to do that” . Every day on the way down (and back up) Bear Canyon we stopped at all the various bears. Every day the lions and the hyenas were asleep. I kept telling my daughter the hyenas were stuffed, they never moved. On our last day and last trip up they were out. I was amazed. One of them had a huge bone and stored it in his water pool. I assume that’s the hyena version of a fridge. There was also a dead rabbit, I think, floating around.
Polar Bears – just gorgeous. Went up each day – did the hill climb on the first day and what a view. We fancied roller skating down. After that we did the Skyfari both ways, just because it gave some welcome foot rest and a glorious view. Yes, met the hippos, the pythons, the koi and loads of other things – love your humming birds – and of course the peacocks. I bought a peacock soft toy – never seen one in the UK.
Can anyone tell me what this might be? It looks like a flying beetle (?). Its a good inch across with large legs and a round dark emerald green body almost the size of a quarter. It’s flight is quite laboured as it is obviously a weighty insect. People didn’t seem too keen on them. I’ve looked on the internet but been unable to find it as yet.
I’m sure I’ll think of more to tell you, like meeting the Wild Park elephants, but I’ll save that for later as I must have written a book by now!
Moderator’s note: Susan, the ” flying beetle” you described sounds like it could have been a ” fig beetle.”
July 25th, 2008 at 12:06 am
Excuse, my english is very basic! But does anybody know announce of Ya Ya of the Zoo of Memphis? Was not it made insemination?
They saw the nestling of Zoo Vienna, beautiful!
Congratulations to all, for his/her love and cares with the pandas!
Thank you,
Liede
July 25th, 2008 at 8:56 am
Conversation with Guo Guo #1
(while in incubator)
Top Cubbie: zzzzz.
Bottom Cubbie: Squeak! (I hungry!)
T: zzzz. (huh?)
B: Squawk! (And turn up the heat, please!)
T: zzzz. (huh?)
B: Squeak. (You’re not as warm as Mama. Bug off!)
T: zzzz. (huh?)
B: Squawk. Squawk. Squawk. (Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! I smell it. It’s time for milk. Me first?)
T: zzzz. (huh…)
(back in pen)
Guo Guo: Now, now, now. Is Toppie picking on you again?
B: Squawk. Squeak. (Boo hoo. It’s not fair. You like him best.)
July 25th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Nyssa, Or.
Thank-you for the update on the newest cubs in China. It is great hearing about what is going on there.
I’m so glad something wonderful has happened out of the mess the earthquake left.
July 25th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Liede (#43), I have been checking in on the Memphis Zoo panda page every so often this spring and summer, and from the last update that the keepers have written on July 7, Ya Ya has not gone into estrus at all this year, and they don’t even know if and when she will. She is a very unpredictable female panda that has had a habit of going into season just about anytime of the year–spring, summer, fall, winter. So, we are still waiting on whether Ya Ya will do her thing so that they can either put her together with Le Le (the male panda) or do an artificial insemination procedure on her. If you want to keep up with what is going on at Memphis Zoo, go on their website and click on panda keeper updates. They don’t write updates very often like San Diego, Atlanta, and National Zoos do on their pandas, so you have to check in there often to see what news they have about their pandas. If you are interested, you can also check in on the panda pages and updates on the National and Atlanta Zoos websites to get new info on Mei Xiang (DC) and Lun Lun (Atlanta) on their pregnancy watch progress. Hope this helps you out on answering your question!
I just checked both the SDZ cam and the NZ cam. Su Lin was on the SDZ cam and all I saw was her back, and it looked like she was checking out something that she found but couldn’t see what it was because she was hunched over what she was investigating. Mei Xiang was on NZ pandacam 1 sleeping on the indoor rock work. She was in her den on the platform overnite. Gonna check in on the Atlanta pandacam to see what Lun Lun is up to later.
Gonna go and check on laundry. My son is breathing down my neck to use the computer for awhile!
Love to the pandas,
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 25th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Thanks for the reassurance wolongnews #41–and for the conversation with Guo Guo and her cubs, P Wong #45.
Liede #44, you are very lucky to see Fu Long in Vienna. And Susan (UK)–you got to see all the pandas and the rest of the animals in the SDZ. Doesn’t get much better than that!
Now I’m watching Bai Yun sleeping peacefully on the log as Miss ZZ starts to climb on and around her. Must be almost lunchtime…
July 25th, 2008 at 1:04 pm
Chari Mercier, muito obrigada pelas informações. I will make my e-mail in the Zoos. And to continue twisting for Ya Ya. He/she had taken have 6 drink in USA. this year still. 2 + 2 + 2, this year still! If it that, Bay Yun and Gao Gao, that are the largest specialists happens in you drink, they will order 3 for next time! He/she had taken!! THE personnel from San Diego deserves!
Good weekend to all!
Liede
July 25th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Susan #43:
Hooraaaay!!! What a wonderful written expression of your visit! How Fun that you actually saw a Koala moving
The closest to moving I have seen was on the last trip and one Koala was awake and licking the trunk of the tree it was clinging to. And! You actually saw the turtle!!! We haven’t found it yet and I had decided that the sign was a tease. Now I will really have to look 
And ” The Stars” did show off a bit for you and your daughter! Perfect. Can’t wait to read your next blog about the Wild Animal Park! Plan on going there in October and your writing will be helpful 
Yep! Next to the Pandas and the polars, I LOVE all the little Meercats!!!!
P Wong # 45:
Thanks for creating grand conversations/translations for the pandas!
Priceless Fun once again
To All: A good weekend wish!
July 25th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Way to go, Guo Guo!! You are a hero panna mom indeed. May you and your babies live many, many healthy and happy years to come. No more stress!!
July 25th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
” HOW CUTE ARE THEY???”
July 25th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Hey I just recalled something – isn’t Guo Guo the female panda that they tried to pair with Gao Gao before he went to SDZ? But then they played together like siblings instead of mating. Correct me if I’m wrong…!
July 25th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
#22 wolongnews – Yes, as you stated there are differences in the way the US zoos raise their pandas. When possible they let mommy panda raise her cub as she would in the wild -(including natural weaning). Mother pandas have a lot to teach their cubs that cannot be learned in ” panda kindergarden” – but if a cub is in distress or mom shows signs of abandoning it they are ready to step in. Maybe, it’s a language difference but I took offense in you asking if ” take if twins are born. Will they take an hands-off approach and assume it’s okay if one cub dies? ” The answer is ‘NO” All the zoos in the US would do everything possible to save a cub.
July 25th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
I love reading the blogs everyday and learning something new from everyone. I’m getting worried about Mei Xiang at the NZ she is starting to spend more time out of the den I hope this doesn’t mean we’re not going to have a new cub this year.
July 25th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
Fu Long is a really cute cub, and sometimes a silly little boy. He is 20 days younger than Zhen Zhen. Did you know that he is Zhen Zhen’s cousin?
Unfortunately there is no web cam so you can’t watch him and his parents on the internet. But there is a youtube video (” Fu Long und Yang Yang” ) I took two weeks ago: youtube(dot)com(slash)watch?v=NLfAnVJ5Eyw
Thanks a lot to SDZ, NZ and Atlanta for the web cams! We can watch the pandas although we live thousands of miles away. I hope Mei will give birth to a cub soon, the poor girl seems to feel pretty uncomfortable.
July 25th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Hi again! Just did my nitely check on the SDZ and NZ pandacams tonite. On both of the NZ pandacams, Mei Xiang is back on the rock work sleeping. Also, just as I expected, NZ panda keepers are starting to write up daily updates on both the main panda page and the pregnancy watch page. New updates for July 25 on both pages, and the pregnancy watch update has a new updated chart. They are still describing her maternal pregnancy behaviors but this time Mei Xiang did not show that much of those behaviors today. Progestin levels have been steadily declining according to the new chart, but the keepers are saying that they still have a ways to go before the end of Mei’s second luteal phase. On the Atlanta Zoo panda page, updates for July 23 and 25 are up online for everybody to read. The panda keepers and staff have been doing some moving around over the last week reorganizing the panda kitchen, the den, and other areas getting ready for Lun Lun’s possible panda cub birth. They are also installing the extra cams in the den area. They’ve been quite busy with that, and with checking Lun’s hormone levels and doing ultrasounds. The pandacam is out while they do maintenance work on it, but they will have it back online on Monday unless they decide to have it on 7 days a week. Will be checking that out over the weekend on the AZ website.
zzz
P Wong, your conversation that you wrote with Guo Guo and her cubs was the funniest I have read so far! Great work! Just wished that there was some way to have pictures with that one!
That’s all I have for right now. Will let everyone know about the AZ pandacam and if NZ will have weekend updates about Mei Xiang. Can’t stand the wait, you all!!!!!
On the SDZ cam, couldn’t read the cam number on the screen because it is written in black and it was dark. So, I didn’t see much of anything on any of the pandas.
Gonna go. Will write back tomorrow if I see anything new on the NZ website about Mei Xiang. I’m hoping that the AZ panda keepers wil start writing more updates about Lun Lun as well.
Bai Yun, you are a very lucky momma panda this year! All you have to do is take care of your one year old daughter (in about another week)!
BYE,
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
PS: Pandas International has another report about the China earthquake that came out yesterday (Thurs., July 24, 2008) on their website and thru my email. This is an article from one of the Chinese workers at the Wolong Panda Reserve describing the earthquake as it actually happened on May 12 while she was on duty. She does a very good job describing what was going on during and after the quake, what they did to help the staff and tourists, and rescuing as many pandas as they could to safer places. There are alot of pictures with this article. It was heartwrenching reading this, but these people were very heroic in what they did to help people, pandas, and themselves after the quake hit. We all know now that they have been thru alot over the last couple of months, but I know that they will come thru this as time goes on.
Going to bed now!
July 26th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
How is Guo Guo pronounced? What does it mean?
July 26th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
I would like to know how the twins born to Guo Guo are doing, and if they are being raised by her or by the staff.
Also, I keep seeing references to NZ and AZ regarding the possible birth of panda twins. Please tell me where/what this is all about, and how I can access their sites, if there is one.
And, finally, what is going on with Mei, where is she, etc?
Thank you for the wonderful information you give us. Hopefully there will be some answers to my quetions.
Mary
July 26th, 2008 at 9:29 pm
Hey! My bad! I thought Pandas International had put the new article on their website about the experiences of one of the Wolong staff workers during the May 12 earthquake. They have not put that in yet, but I did get the email newsletter about that. Hopefully for those of you that didn’t get the PI email newsletter, they will get that on their website asap. If you want me to, I can write up a short version of what this Chinese worker said about her experiences while at the Wolong Reserve during the quake. Let me know, ok? Her story is really astonishing but hopeful.
Checked the NZ pandacam 1, and Mei Xiang is on the rock work asleep again tonite. I’ll be checking in on her while I’m still up to see what she’s been doing. No new update about Mei today, tho. I also just checked the SDZ pandacam to check out Bai and ZZ but couldn’t see either one because it was so dark on the cam. Will check them out tomorrow. I was out all day and this was the first chance I had to check on both of the pandacams. My son was on the computer playing a game before I got on it.
Oh well, not much going on right now. I will keep checking the NZ pandacam often.
For all of the other animal lovers, the National Zoo had another history making month on the kori bustards. For the third year in a row, 4 kori chicks hatched within 3 weeks of each other–2 in June, 2 in July. These chicks are very cute and colorful with their brown and yellow fuzzy coats on them. It’s a shame that as they get older, they lose those pretty colors and start growing feathers in silver, grey, and black colors–very dull colors! NZ has had a pretty good success rate with the kori parents mating, laying eggs, incubating them, and hatching them. The kori keepers will incubate the eggs themselves in the incubator, but their success rate is really great doing it that way. They hand raise the chicks because they feel that this will help them be able to handle the birds more effectively. Kori Bustards are African birds and have a very tenacious, fiesty attitude on them that makes them pretty difficult to work with, especially the males. So, the procedures that they have been using over the years with the koris have been helpful and successful. On the NZ ferret cam, Georgia, the momma ferret, and her baby boy ferret are doing great. Baby ferret is growing alot, nursing well, his black markings have deepened alot more, eyes and ears are totally open, and is even following his mom out of the nest box sometimes when he’s not sleeping. He’s just about half her size already and 5 weeks old as of yesterday (Fri., July 25). Got an email from one of the NZ golden lion tamarins (GLTS) keeper that I have been corresponding with, and she wrote back letting me know that 2 new baby GLTs were born to Laranja and Eduardo on July 17. Laranja and Eduardo are ” married” for life and now can count 8 GLT kids in their family since 2006. The GLT cam has been out for weeks due to some major cleanup in their exhibits. They hope to have the cam back up in early August.
Well, gonna go. Will check in sometime tomorrow!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 26th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
I am watching Mei Xiang at about 12:52AM. She’s licking her paws, and building the nest with bamboo being dragged into her den.
Is a cub imminent?? I am anxious!!
July 27th, 2008 at 7:54 am
YAY! A baby boom in China! FOUR cubs born! This was on a CNN page. Go girls! A pair of twins and 2 singles.
July 27th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Sunday, July 27, 2008; 2:30pm EDT—Been watching Mei Xiang on the NZ pandacam one today, and Mei Xiang was in her den. She was on her platform sleeping when I got on the cam, then she woke up and did a little bit of licking and scratching. Then, she decided to get off of the platform and sat down in her favorite corner by the platform with her arms and head on the platform trying to get another nap in. I checked back a few minutes later and Mei Xiang was in the corner of her den all rolled up in a huge fur ball! So, is she having labor pains or just feels comfy in that sleeping position? Gotta keep watching her to see what she does next!
Got on the SDZ cam and saw Gao Gao sleeping! Usually I’ll see him munching away on his boo. Will get back on there to see if they switched cams and hopefully see Bai and ZZ.
Gonna go and get back on the NZ cam to see what Mei Xiang is doing next.
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 27th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Wow! More cubs!
From AP:
BEIJING (AP) — Four giant panda cubs were born within 14 hours at a breeding center in southwest China, a mini baby boom for the rare animals, a state news agency reported Sunday.
The births began Saturday at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center when 9-year-old Qiyuan, or Magic Luck, gave birth to female twins at 5:24 p.m. and 6:16 p.m., Xinhua News Agency reported, citing center expert Yang Feifei.
Eight-year-old Chenggong, or Success, gave birth to a cub at 7:51 p.m., followed by 8-year-old Zhuzhu, or Pearl, who delivered at 6:55 a.m. Sunday, Yang said.
The center currently has 71 pandas in captivity, Xinhua said.
The giant panda is revered as an unofficial national symbol of China. Only about 1,600 pandas live in the wild, mostly in southwestern Sichuan province, which was hit by an earthquake in May that killed nearly 70,000 people.
China’s most famous panda preserve, the Wolong Nature Reserve, was seriously damaged in the quake and forced to relocate most of its pandas. The preserve is at the heart of China’s gargantuan effort to use captive breeding and artificial insemination to save the giant panda.
July 27th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
AP is reporting four panda cubs were born at Chengdu breeding centre.
Four giant panda cubs were born within 14 hours at a breeding center in southwest China, a mini baby boom for the rare animals, a state news agency reported Sunday.
The births began Saturday at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center when 9-year-old Qiyuan, or Magic Luck, gave birth to female twins at 5:24 p.m. and 6:16 p.m., Xinhua News Agency reported, citing center expert Yang Feifei.
Eight-year-old Chenggong, or Success, gave birth to a cub at 7:51 p.m., followed by 8-year-old Zhuzhu, or Pearl, who delivered at 6:55 a.m. Sunday, Yang said
July 27th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
Yay! A mini baby boom in China! 4 panda cubs born in 14 hours!! So exciting! Now I wish Mei Xiang and Lun Lun would give us a hand here in the US and hurry up and give us some cubs!! I can’t wait!
July 27th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
After reading all of the updates on the NZ website, it almost seems like the keepers are trying to break it to all of us pandalovers very gently….that it looks like we might not get a baby this year. Does anyone else get that impression? I hope hope hope I’m wrong. I am still praying for another panda cub. Tai Shan could use a brother or sister! For that matter, so could Atlanta Beauty down south. Keeping those fingers crossed!!!
July 27th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
As you may have heard more baby pandas have come into this world. A set of twins and two singles over the weekend in China. Now if we could just get a couple here in the U.S. that would be great.
July 27th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Good News!!! 4 baby Pandas born since Saturday morning at Chengdu!
July 27th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
I’m sure I’ll check in to this blog tomorrow and see 15 other postings with the same news, but there are 4 more panda cubs! All born within 14 hours of each other at the Chengdu Panda Breeding Research Center (which I was fortunate enough to visit back in October of 2001). Twins to Qiyuan and one each to Chenggong and ZhuZhu. Here’s one of the articles: news.yahoo.com(slash)s(slash)ap(slash)20080727(slash)ap_on_re_as(slash)china_pandas
So, if my count is right, we’re up to 9 new cubs so far this year. And we can continue to pray that Mei Xiang and Lun Lun will make their contributions soon.
July 27th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
Hi! Hope you all don’t mind me writing to you again, but I have some great news about the China pandas! This is a report from the MSNBC website that I just read late tonite (Sun., 7/27). Three female pandas at the Chengdu Research Center gave birth to baby cubs starting late Saturday afternoon thru Sunday morning China time within 14 hours of each other. Qiyuan, 9 years old (means Magic Luck), gave birth to female twins, then Chenggong, 8 years old (means Success), had one baby panda cub, and then she was followed by Zhuzhu, 8 years old (means Pearl), who had one baby panda cub. Xinhua News made the announcement. Chengdu has 71 pandas at the center, some of them from Wolong Reserve. Don’t know if any of these female pandas are from the Wolong group; they didn’t say. But this is great news because of the huge concern of how the earthquake will affect the female pandas that were possibly pregnant. Counting the new cubs that were born at Bifengxia, this makes 9 new baby panda cubs that have been born in the last 3 weeks. YEA!!!! More babies!! I am so happy that these female pandas are staring at that earthquake in the face and letting everyone know that they are very resilient and flexible, and can handle the stress from everything that has gone on since May 12. These momma pandas have given us another new generation of giant pandas in China! Oh yeah, don’t ask me how the Chengdu vets were able to determine the twin cubs as females. They must have a technique to make that determination there. Right now, all I’m hoping and praying for is that all 4 of the newest cubs are in good health and are nursing from their mothers.
Checked the NZ pandacam awhile ago, and Mei Xiang is back on the rock work sleeping again! Will keep checking in on her pretty often. I’m also looking forward to their new update tomorrow (Mon., 7/28) on anything positive about Mei Xiang. I’ll also be checking the AZ panda page and cam about Lun Lun.
Gonna go and get to bed, but I thought I would get this in for everyone to read and rejoice!
Love and prayers for the newest panda cubs in China,
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 28th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Did you all hear about the 2 baby elephants this month at the Pittsburgh Zoo?!?! The 2nd one was just born on the 25th! On their website they have a link to a video of one of the babies trying to get balanced and trying to ” figure out” what to do with its trunk! It is adorable!!! Wobble, wobble, lift head, move trunk, not really sure about this thing attached to the front of my face!! : )
Moderator..what are the big plans for the BIG first birthday this weekend?!?! I can’t wait and will be parked in front of my monitor a good part of the day Sunday to make sure I DO NOT miss a THING!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY little ZZ!!!
Moderator’s note: Both Zhen Zhen’s and Su Lin’s birthdays will be celebrated on Sunday, August 3. There will be ice ” cakes” at both the 9 a.m. feedings and again at noon (all times are Pacific Daylight Savings Time).
July 28th, 2008 at 8:35 am
What great news from Chengdu this weekend. 4 babies born within 14 hours to 2 moms. Every birth means so much more this year. We need more good news like this.
July 28th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Susan, #43, sounds like your trip to SDZ and WAP were a huge success. I am so happy for you and your daughter that you finally got to make the trip and were rewarded with great visits with so many animals. It will remain vividly in your mind forever. My last trip to SDZ and WAP were in 1987 when Basi (panda) was visiting from China. I remember it as if it was last year. I can still see her playing with a big red ball, and I think she even rode a tricycle. (Glad the Chinese don’t teach pandas on tour to do silly tricks anymore.) My family all laughed at my movies (before video cameras) because I moved so fast trying to capture all the action at all the exibits. I can’t even imagine how much more exciting, entertaining, and educational both parks are now. My dream is to get back there while there is a cub with Bai Yun. If not this year, maybe 2010.
July 28th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Chari #67, the female Qiyuan who had the twins is from wolong according to a story on msnbc This was happy news this morning to find out there are 4 more babies. Thank you Chari for all your updates, it allows me to catch up all that I missed, you are a blessing.
Mary #58, just google Zoo Atlanta and you get there sight and National Zoo for the other, you will really enjoy it
July 28th, 2008 at 11:31 am
According to Chinese media, there’s a scare moment for Qiyuan’s first cub. The cub almost suffocated to death and the keepers had to perform CPR. Both twins are okay now, I assume.
The second panda mother abandoned her panda, so the keepers actually sent the cub to Qiyuan. Qiyuan happily accepted it as surrogate mother.
July 28th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
More babies!!!! What a blessing. I am amazed at the strength of these panda mommas. I was afraid the earthquake would have taken toll on the births this year. Speaking of which…….I watched Mei a lot this weekend, and was convinced she wasn’t pregnant but then I must have missed her nest building with the grate! The update was somewhat encouraging. Does anyone know when Lun might deliver? I know AZ is getting the nursery together. Can our girls please copy their sisters in China?????
July 28th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
Why do pandas experience pseudo-pregnancy? I don’t quite understand this.
July 28th, 2008 at 1:29 pm
#57 Susan
There is not quite an equivalent in English to the pronunciation of Guo Guo in Mandarin Chinese. Roughly, you can pronunciate it as Gou Gou (this is not quite close though, but Gaw Gaw sounds more like Gao Gao the panda in SDZ). I think the closest might be in the first syllable as in ” gourmet” with the sound or ” r” .
The Chinese western style pingying Guo represents dozens of Chinese characters. But the character chosen for this Giant Panda mother, verified by Chinese newspaper, means heroine, or female hero. What a fitting name for her.
I hope you are satisfied with the above information.
July 28th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I meant without the sound of ” r”
July 28th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
ZZ and Bai have been interacting quite regularly on camera. I can’t remember if the same occurred with Su Lin when she was the same age. Su always seemed so above it all — literally and figuratively. It’s such a pleasure to see Bai and ZZ playing like a couple of silly bears.
July 28th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
The latest photos of guo guo’s twin cubs.
http slashslash lookpanda dot blog dot sohu dot com slash 95728670 dothtml
According to this site, another wolong panda ‘baixue’ gave birth to a pair of twins on Jan 27th. Baixue is an ‘old’ mother, she is 18 years old.
http:slashslash lookpanda dot blog dot sohu dot com slash 95728974 dot html
July 28th, 2008 at 4:45 pm
btw, 11 panda cubs have been born from wolong and chengdu breeding centre so far this year.
July 28th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
That a great treat this evening seeing little ZZ and momma Bai having a big time together and it was even light enough to watch. I think Mei Xiang is driving the keepers at the NZ crazy and all the panda watchers also with her actions sometimes good and other times not so good. Come on Mei it’s time to do something like giving us a little cub.
July 28th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
Hi, you all! Here goes–another Mei Xiang and Lun Lun update. National Zoo’s panda page has written 3 updates for July 26, 27, 28 all on the main panda page. The pregnancy watch page has a new update with a chart for July 28. Happy reading, pandafans! Alot of detail of Mei’s pegnancy behavior activities over the weekend and today. The funny part was what they wrote in about Mei Xiang’s fascination with a drain grate and licking it! Also saw Mei Xiang on both pandacams late today at around 7pm EDT, and she was on her back with her back legs spread out in her favorite corner of the den. That den is getting stuffed with bamboo shreds and hay right now! Once I get done writing to you all, I am going back on the NZ cam to see what she’s doing now.
Atlanta Zoo has also written an update for today, July 28 about Lun Lun. Lun is still eating normally and active. But, the keepers do expect her to start slowing down, become lethargic, sleep in her den, eat less. Lun had her ultrasound session which showed one good image of uterine horn on one side, but the other side was obstructed due to some gas. They will do another ultrasound on Lun on Thursday. Didn’t catch the AZ pandacam today, but from the looks of it, the cam is probably back online. (They only have the cam on from 10am-5pm EDT., Mon.-Fri.) Will check that out tomorrow. I think that Mei Xiang and Lun Lun are about a week or two apart in their luteal phases.
I agree with alot of you! We want to see Lun Lun and Mei Xiang have their babies ASAP!!!!! These 2 girls are still keeping us in suspense! One thing is for sure about Mei Xiang, the position she was in when I saw her on the cam today looks like that she could be going into labor. She was looking a little bit restless then. But, I never know what she’ll be doing. I just wish that these female pandas would be like other animals, get really pregnant, and have their babies without having all of us guessing! Wouldn’t that be nice? Oh well….! We will have to wait on these mothers to make up their minds on when they will have their babies (or not)! :]
Linda in Lansing, MI–I will definitely check out the Pittsburg Zoo about the 2 baby elephants! That is really great news for them!
Barbara (#74), thanks for reading my comments and backing me up! Like someone else said in one of the earlier comments, there will be alot of comments about the 4 baby panda cubs that were born in Chengdu, China, and that person was right! Alot of comments! That was huge news considering what these pandas had to go thru just 2 months ago! I got really excited when I read about that! I was wondering which of the panda moms was from Wolong, and someone said that Qiyuan was one of the Wolong pandas. You go, China panda moms!!
Well, gotta go and check that NZ cam to see what Mei Xiang is up to. This is the last week of July, and the NZ keepers are expecting something to happen sometime this week, so we will keep watching and waiting. Lun Lun’s keepers are expecting her to end her luteal phase sometime during the first week of August or so. Keep your fingers crossed, pandafans!!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 28th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Hi, wolongnews! What does BTW mean, and I didn’t know that there was a total of 11 cubs born so far in China. Somewhere I missed out on a momma panda or two having baby pandas! It’s still a remarkable comeback for these panda moms after the aftermath of the May 12 quake. It sure does show all of us that these pandas are very resilient no matter what hits them! Apparently, they have learned how to roll with the punches every day. Ancient Chinese secret revealed from the pandas! I think we can all learn that lesson from these lovely intelligent bears!! Looking forward for more happy news of more panda births from China!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 28th, 2008 at 6:57 pm
#75 wolongnews–so Quiyuan is now going to juggle three cubs, two of her own and the one she has adopted? Hero mother, indeed! Thanks for this amazing news.
July 29th, 2008 at 7:00 am
What an adorable sight this morning (5 am CA time) – Bai and ZZ sitting side by side in the early morning light sharing a snack of boo. Bai and mini-Bai. Just love it!! A perfect way to start the day!
July 29th, 2008 at 7:51 am
Thanks, Moderator, #71 for the update on the Big 1 and 3 Birthday celebrations. Since their birthdays are one day apart, it makes sense for you to celebrate them together. Especially since pandas don’t know that it is a special day, but their human keepers and fans sure do!
Poor keepers at NZP are going ” crazy” trying to figure out if Mei Xiang is or isn’t pregnant. She sure is going through some hormonal and behavioral ups and downs lately. Hopefully it will culminate in a cub or two in the next few days. We are running out of days in July, and they predicted it would be a late July birth. But with delayed implantation, it could be any time.
It is exciting to hear that the earthquake doesn’t appear to have affected the birth of cubs in China, except for poor Mao Mao.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:23 am
I’m one of those crazed panda nuts who is following Mei’s pregnancy at NZ. However, I think that so long as her progesterone count is up and whatever is inside might actually be a cub, it augers well for the cub’s development and readiness to face the world. Mei has been experiencing hormone heck for several weeks now. It’s driving us all a little mad, but she’s the one who has to go through it.
Good news about the double ice cakes for the girls on Sunday. I’ll be all eyes.
As a side note, I’m off to Sichuan on September 20 for a volunteer trip to Bi Feng Xia for several days and a couple of days in Chengdu. I’m hoping against hope that I’ll get to at least see Hua Mei, who is and will always be my first love. It would be more than to hope for to also catch a glimpse of Mei Sheng, my second love. If I see either of them I’ll be sure to post a picture and share the experience with this blog.
July 29th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Well done Guo Guo! We will ” wet the babies’ heads” this evening with champagne!
July 29th, 2008 at 11:47 am
Chari (#85) – BTW means ” by the way” ..
July 29th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Hey, everyone, just heard there’s been an earthquake from LA to San Diego. Is everyone OK? And all animals? Was it felt at the Zoo at all?
Hope you are all OK.
Moderator’s note: The earthquake occured in an area between Los Angeles and San Diego, and while we felt it in San Diego, it was quite mild here and many people weren’t aware of it. We have had no reports of any reaction from any of the animals at the San Diego Zoo or the Wild Animal Park.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
I like a lot of you are busy watching our SDZ family off and on during the day, A fast year has gone by and our baby will be 1 year old , she’s a big girl now and so grown up, I get tickled watching the whole family.I am also getting crazy watching Mei Xiang in D.C. I can’t figure out how she gets into those positions, she’s a pretzel, all the maternal instincints I just hope she isn’t experienceing any pain. Tomorrow will be her 133rd day since artifical insemination so let’s all hope one way or another it’s soon. Glad to hear everything is okay after the earthquake, we had to shut down two of our warehouse for awhile but there back in operation now.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:20 pm
The cam at ZA has been focused on the den area – are they checking out the cam or telling us something.
July 29th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Hi Chari #85 – BTW means ” by the way” . To find the meaning of acronyms, goggle List of Chat Acronyms and click on the first site. Hope you find this helpful.
BTW, thanks for letting us know about the black-footed ferrets cam at the NZ site. They are adorable. The kit is getting very adventurous and is constantly leaving the nest. Mommy keeps pulling him back in through the opening in the nest. They both return to the nest rear end first. They are very entertaining and a lot of fun to watch
July 29th, 2008 at 2:10 pm
Maureen #95, they have just installed the cameras, so I guess they are making sure they work. According to the updates they figure at least a couple to three weeks yet.
July 29th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Kris, #88–I saw Bai and ZZ this morning early, too. How cute they were–even at that hour–chomping bamboo together.
I know it’s ” nature’s way,” but the whole pregnancy/pseudopregnancy process seems very hard on pandas, especially if they do not eventually give birth. Do experts know why this process evolved?
July 29th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Hi! Kris (#92), thanks for answering that question about BTW! Now I know what it means! I just got home a half hour ago or so, got on one of my cable news channels to catch up on the news, and yes, I heard about that 5.4 earthquake that everyone felt today. Then, you all had a 3.5 aftershock, but I don’t think you all were able to feel that one as much. Read the moderator’s note about this, and I’m glad that you all are doing ok at SDZ and WAP, and that everybody in the LA county area are doing ok along with some minor damage and minor injuries up there.
Is everyone still celebrating Chengdu’s baby panda boom? I still am! Now, I’m hoping that there will be some more news about how the babies are doing now. If anyone still keeps in touch thru Chinese newspapers online, let us know if you read anything new about the cubs, ok? Will appreciate it alot!
National Zoo: Panda page has today’s update for July 29 online for all of us to read, and the pregnancy watch page also has a July 29 update with TWO charts for us to read and look at. Still the same pregnancy behaviors from Mei Xiang. She had another ultrasound done today, also. Like they said, this is a little bit of a bumpy ride because Mei is not letting us and them know what is really going on inside of her yet!
Missed out on getting on the Atlanta Zoo pandacam today, so I didn’t get a chance to check in on Lun Lun. Will try to remember to get on that cam tomorrow morning to see how she’s been doing. New update will be up from AZ panda keepers tomorrow (Wed., July 30). Hope there’s some good news on the pregnancy front from them!
Got on the SDZ cam and saw Miss Su Lin eating her boo! She has such a pretty face and is a very happy panda camper right now!
10 days until the Olympics get started! I hope that the eight pandas at the Beijing Zoo are enjoying themselves and the people that are coming there to see them, learn about them, and the conservation efforts for the pandas that is still ongoing despite the earthquake.
Well, gonna go and get some stuff done as well as check in on both the SDZ and NZ cams again.
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 29th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
HI, moderator! When do you expect to end the ” Kung Fu Panda” movie promotion on the main panda page? The movie has been out for nearly 2 months. I do hope that Dreamworks has been doing something special with their proceeds from the movie to help in the earthquake relief and the pandas that were affected by it. Let us know about how much longer that movie promo will be going on, ok?
Thanks,
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 29th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
#86 btw = by the way
#87, I guess so.
Mei is driving me crazy. The pseudopregnancy stuff is really puzzling. I am starting to lose patience on her. I’m afraid she will disappoint us this year as her progestin level is almost down to baseline. Not happy!
July 29th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
#90 Mary from Brooklyn. Please keep us posted on your upcoming trip to China. I had seen a trip also that was volunteering in Bi Feng Xia; tho’ there wasn’t enough time to plan such a trip for me this year. I wonder if its the same. I hope that when I do get to go there are other panda fans to meet. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you get to see Hua Mei and Mei Sheng! Congratulations!!!! I’m most envious.
July 29th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
#99 Chari – re the pandas in Beijing. If you go on youtube you will see oodles of videos of these pandas. They are having a ball! and the reaction from the crowds is so infectious – they laugh at every somersault, every tumble, the playfighting, eating, falling, etc. It really makes you realize that the pandas are indeed so rare that even in their land of origin they elicit such awe and curiousity. If you watch the videos from Ocean Park in Hongkong, you’ll see the pair of panda ‘clowns’ they have there – Ying Ying and Le Le. My do they ever entertain the crowds, especially when they are playing with their enrichment items – they often play with them together. I love it when the two of them try to get inside the blue plastic barrel at the same time. Enjoy!!
July 29th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Moderator,
I was right on top of the epicenter in Chino Hills and I can assure you there was nothing mild about it. How does one say YIKES in panda language! I was in my room when all of a sudden my cats flew under the bed. A few moments later the quake hit. They obviously have a sense that we do not. Unfortunately, no matter how hard I tried, I could not fit under the bed. California is a beautiful place to live, but these earthquakes are for the birds.
Moderator’s note: Glad you’re okay! Having grown up in L.A., I agree there’s nothing mild about a 5.4 earthquake! My note was meant to answer the question of whether the pandas and other animals in San Diego were alright. While we certainly felt it, we are far enough from Chino hills that the earthwaves had lost a great deal of energy by the time they hit San Diego, so we only felt ” mild” shaking.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Chari #99–There are some cute new pictures of the Olympic pandas here:
http://en(dot)beijing2008(dot)cn(slash)news(slash)olympiccities(slash)beijing(slash)n214489000(dot)shtml
wolongnews #100–don’t know if you saw my earlier question (#87)–is Quiyan taking care of her two cubs and the abandoned one too?
#90 Mary from Brooklyn–you are indeed lucky to be able to go over to Bifenxia to help. Pictures, please!
Glad to hear that there hasn’t been any harm from the earthquake at SDZ and WAP.
Also–does anyone know who that man is I see picking up Miss ZZ?
Can’t wait for the birthday celebrations! Can’t believe it has been a year already.
July 29th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
I too fear that there will be no baby panda at the NZ this year. If you compare the hormone graphs of the previous years with this year’s, you’ll notice that when there was no successful pregnancy the graphs are very jagged and uneven. The graph of the successful pregnancy in 2005 is much more evenly rounded. This year’s graph also has those jagged and uneven peaks and valleys similar to the unsuccessful ones. But then what do I know, and hopefully I’m wrong.
Perhaps one of the SDZ experts can enlighten me on my observation?
July 29th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Diana #101, when I mentioned the trip to my husband, his response was ” Of course you are going!” What a sweetie. Who said anything about planning — I just signed up. But since I’m retired, planning is not an issue. I will be posting lots and lots of pictures on my Flickr site when I get back. I’ll let you all know when I’m finished posting. I will make the pictures available only to my friends, so if you want to see them, you will need to create a Flickr account and contact me — kkshaw43.
Since I’ve never been to SDZ, the anticipation of possibly seeing Hua Mei and/or Mei Sheng is delicious. We are flying directly to and from NYC JFK, so no stop in SD. I will be all eyes on Sunday to watch the two girls enjoy their birthdays. SDZ, you have been my inspiration and constant source of joy since Hua Mei was a newborn. I simply cannot thank you enough.
July 29th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
PS Has SDZ updated the PandaCam? It looks great.
Moderator’s note: Our wonderful Web team has made a number of changes to the site to make it more attractive and functional. They’re pleased you like it!
July 29th, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Mei Xiang is *definitely* going to pop out at least one darling cub pretty soon. That’s my prediction. I know we all hope I am right, lol!
So, how did our SDZ darlings do in the earthquake today? It was completely terrifying in Beverly Hills, where I got a very wild ride in a high-rise office building. I know it wasn’t as bad in SD, but my parents live there and they definitely felt it.
Hope everyone is okay! And, off-topic, I can’t be the only one pining for another update on Scout & Montana, if the meerkats could pass that on to the bear folks!
July 29th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
WANNA HOLD A PANDA CUB IN YOUR HAND?
There are 3 absolutely stunning pix in the The Sun, UK paper, titled “Yawn a cute panda cub’ of one of the four recently-born Chengdu cubs which give a very clear close-up look at the priceless treasure. Never got such close-up view of the baby cubs even in the TV documentaries. Thought I could virtually touch the cub in the picture. WOW!
THE URL is-
http:(slashslash)www(dot)thesun.co.uk(slash)sol(slashhomepage(slash)news(slash)article1484140(dot)ece
July 30th, 2008 at 5:01 am
wolongnews#100: According to the latest updates from NZ, Mei’s progestin levels are still quite a way from being back at baseline level. Isn’t it just like her to keep us all in suspense?
Come on, Mei (and pass the word along to Lun Lun, too) – let’s have cubbies!
July 30th, 2008 at 6:18 am
Margot (#98) – Did you by chance happen to see Bai and ZZ early Wed. morning? They were having a nursing session. So sweet! It really does start my day off on a more positive note when I get a glimpse of the bears. In the spring, I would tune it to watch Gao doing his pacing and I felt bad for him knowing that this year he wasn’t going to get to meet Bai at the howdy gate. Maybe next year!
July 30th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Susan #43 & #93 – I enjoyed reading all about your visit to the San Diego Zoo. What a magical time for you and your daughter. It must have been so wonderful to watch first hand how Bai Yun, Su Lin, Zhen Zhen, and Gao Gao interacted with their keepers.
Did the polar bears put on a show for everyone? Aren’t they the most striking creatures when they get close to the viewing window? I am always in awe watching them dive, swim, and play together in their pool and especially when they approach the window and gaze at the visitors.
Susan, how was your trip to the Wild Animal Park? Did the pride of lions at Lion Camp put on a good show for you? The young lions are so much fun to watch especially when they’re wrestling with one another. They are growing up so fast. We enjoy watching them when they are all lounging on the rock ledge at the main viewing area.
Last but not least, I noticed that you heard about the earthquake here in San Diego. This is my account of the scary 15 or so seconds:
Looking forward to your next travelogue.
While sitting at my computer, I suddenly noticed that the monitor was shaking back and forth. At first, I assumed the reason was a low flying helicopter that happened to be right over our house at the time the earthquake started. Thankfully, there were no reports of damage in San Diego. Originally, the quake was estimated at 5.8 but was revised downward to a 5.4. When the ” shaking†started my kitty was sitting near me. She never panicked or showed any signs of distress. I guess she is getting used to the occasional ground shaking.
July 30th, 2008 at 10:05 am
To All Panda Fans: -
The Travel Channel is televising an interesting and informative three part series running for the next few weeks. The title is: Samantha Brown: Passport to China. The series details three different areas of China -Beijing, Sichuan and Xian. The episode about Sichuan shows Samantha at the Chendu Breeding Center, feeding, petting and holding the pandas. She also talks at length with the panda keepers and guides. It’s very cute with lots of panda vocalization. I have never heard so much panda ” conversationâ€. You have to see and hear it to believe it. Check your Travel Channel listing for schedule information.
July 30th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Is it my imagination or have Su Lin and Gao Gao switched places again? It is 10:30 PDT, and there is a panda asleep on the climbing structure in the back area. Since Gao Gao doesn’t normally climb, I assume it is Su Lin. Whichever one it is, they are very peacefully slumbering in a comfy pose. Thanks Meerkats for a great view.
July 30th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Moderator, thank you for letting me know what the flying beetle is – it is indeed a fig beetle that I saw. I know they’re a pest, but they are rather magnificent. Also, thanks for the information on the earthquake; I realised it wasn’t too bad when I switched over to Fox News. San Diego now has a very fond spot in my heart.
Mary #107, I shall look forward, along with everyone else, for your pictures and I do hope you get to see Hua Mei and (my first panda) – Mei Sheng.
Carol #109, I saw Scout and Montana lots when I was at the SDZ – they love playing and running around their enclosure. They look like very happy bears. Hope that keeps you a little happy until we get another write-up on them.
Rose N #113 and Bobbie (and anyone else who wants to know!) here’s another instalment. (Rose, thanks for your earthquake story; you have a very laid-back kitty!)
Bobbie – when you look for the turtle, try behind the huge boulder. He hides underneath the foliage behind the rock and it takes quite a few moments to locate him, especially if the sun is shining right in the water. With the koalas, I’ve forgotten what route you take but I know you get to the zoo early. We got there between 9-9.15am and turned right, past Lagoon Terrace and the ‘Popcorn’ Bears as I call them, the birds and the squirrel and then the koalas. They should be getting their breakfast about then and that’s when they wake up.
We were very privileged to be the guests of the Gift Manager, Pam Fein, at the Wildlife Park (it was that polar bear print that did it!) and she took us round herself. We went to see where some of the animals are trained and met a very timid spotted hyena and then his brother (if I remember correctly) who was happy to be touched. Like most people I thought hyenas would attack animals/people but they are very frightened of anything unless it’s dead. Then we met Bubba the Warthog. He took a fancy to my white jeans and very gently head butted them. I proudly wore a large ‘mud kiss’ all day!
Then on to the lions. Three ‘babies’ were inside and we got a good look at them, and their keeper told us all about them. Then we went outside where dad was trying to get some sleep on a big rock, only one of the little ones was determined that dad was going to play. Dad was not amused and gave an irritated roar. He had to do that a couple of times, although little junior was still messing about behind him.
Then on to the elephants. We met John the keeper who told us who was who. We were shown a very small elephant that we thought was a baby until he told us it was Lungile. Couldn’t believe how small she is. The sad thing is that her little baby died on John’s birthday. That made me feel very sad – you could see how much he loves those elephants. We were able to go inside the cam area as all the elephants were still inside – everyone has to be accounted for before the elephants are allowed out. Then we climbed up onto the platform and looked at the elephants in the yard, using their trunks to throw grass onto their backs. Before we left we watched the big male elephant being checked over and given a bath with a hose – he loved that.
Bobbie – when you go to the Wildlife Park take a look at the island in the centre of the large lake by the Mombassa eating place. Look for a large stork-like bird that looks like a statue – until it moves! It’s a Shoebill Stork and we had to look it up on the hotel’s computer, it was so fantastic. It looks like a leftover from the dinosaurs and was certainly around in Egyptian times. Wonderful bird.
After lunch we went on the Photocaravan Tour. Wow. What an experience. Ostriches pecking loudly round the truck, buffalo eyeing us up and everyone getting a go at feeding the giraffes with leaves. We might as well have been in Africa, it was so hot. Loads of rhinos basking in the shade (they’re not daft) and various herons along the way. One little girl’s headscarf blew out of the truck right by the buffalo and the driver had to dash out and retrieve it. He lived!! Anyone wearing a straw hat was asked to remove it as the giraffes like to eat them.
The misters placed around the park were very very welcome indeed, as were the lifts. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to go in the balloon, which was a shame. The day was over way too soon and we had to get our limo home (courtesy of husband – and very much appreciated). On the way home we had a chatty driver who pointed out an ostrich farm and orange groves.
Back at the SDZ for a moment: our visit to the apes was hilarious. One was rolling slowly downhill with a huge piece of cardboard in tow. Another was doing forward and then backward roly poly’s. And another was doing huge springy jumps while one of the others looked on disapprovingly. Right in front of us, behind the glass, two of the bigger ones were having the most wonderful wrestling match.
Polar Bears (Rose N): I love them. Close up they are magnificent and seeing them in their wheely cages getting their treats was a treat in itself. On one occasion Kelly forgot to click Chinnook to tell him he was a good bear and he started going backwards and nodding his head as if to say ” No, no, I’m not good” but as soon as Kelly clicked him he was happy again. They played with all their toys and pounced on the little plastic baskets that Chinnook likes to put on his head. They are gorgeous.
By the way, did I see one of them drag what looked like a mini Christmas tree into the pool and drown it the other day?
I’m sure I’ll remember other things over the coming weeks but now I’m getting ready for Sunday and the two Birthday Girls’ day.
Moderator’s Note: Find out more about Photo Caravans and all the special experiences available at the Wild Animal Park http://www.sandiegozoo.org/tickets/wap_special_experiences.html” >here.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I have try the different websites people have type in to use to see pandas. But everytime they come up saying there is no site by that name.
July 30th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
LOCAL GIRL CREATES PANDA BANDS, RAISES MONEY TO SAVE THE PANDAS
7/27/2008 11:31 PM
By HALEY HUGHES
Staff writer
Aiken teen Tracey Hoel was disturbed by news of the devastating May earthquake in China – she knew she had to do something.
A longtime admirer of the country’s giant pandas, Hoel was relieved to find out that the pandas living in the Wolong Giant Panda Reserve Center in China had survived the major quake, which registered an 8.0 on the Richter scale. The reserve center is in southwest Sichuan province, located just 20 miles from the earthquake’s epicenter. But many of China’s pandas living in the wild remained largely unaccounted for after the disaster and questions arose how reserve officials were going to care for the pandas in captivity.
” That’s a bummer,” Hoel said. ” They have to take special measures to take care of them. They’re very picky about what they eat.”
A giant panda’s diet largely consists of bamboo, so emergency supply reserves had to be called in.
” I kept asking my mom to send money to the pandas, but she said I had to raise the money myself,” Hoel said.
Hoel and mom Gayl brainstormed and came up with the idea of Panda Bands. Panda Bands are bracelets handmade by Hoel that she sells for $2 each. She sends all the proceeds to Pandas International, a nonprofit organization based in Colorado that aids pandas by providing money and supplies.
So far, she has raised about $64, mostly from a table she set up at a yard sale.
Tracey’s sister, Bonnie, a jewelry maker herself, has helped with supplying the materials for the bracelets and also designed the panda logo for the packaging. Panda Bands come in several different colors and patterns and are made with elastic cord to fit most wrists. Naturally, black and white beads appear in every bracelet. Hoel hopes to have a Panda Bands table at the next St. Mary’s Chocolate Festival. Gayl said word of Panda Bands has been spreading by word of mouth thus far; but the Hoels just launched a Panda Bands website where customers can place orders. Delivery is available in Aiken, but shipping and handling elsewhere costs an extra $1. Cash and PayPal payments are accepted.
Every little bit counts. A breakdown of donations for giant panda cubs provided by Pandas International shows that $25 buys five fleece blankets, $805 buys seven bags of milk formula and $5,000 buys one incubator. ” I want to at least get enough for the incubator,” Hoel said. Gayl Hoel said she can’t help but be proud of her daughter. ” I didn’t know she was going to take it this far,” she said. For more information or to order a Panda Band, visit www(DOT)pandabands(DOT)com.
July 30th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
Solshih #118, thanks for the link to the young lady making Panda Bands for Panda’s International, what a wonderful idea. I have to find out if she’ll ship to Canada and then I’ll order 10 as they’ll make great little stocking stuffers for Christmas….
Mary # 107, can’t wait to hear all about your trip. I think I found you on flickr, ha ha not too sure though… I am still hoping that there will be a trip to China in 2010 through the SDZ, as I wanted to go in 2009, but will wait for things to get a bit more settled with the bears first.
I like everyone else here am thrilled at the new cub arrivals in China. I check out the NZ site every couple hours only to find Mei sound asleep (in some goofy postions I might add), and the second camera I’m assuming is Tai Shan eating and eating…. All fingers and toes are crossed for cubbies at the NA and ZA…..
July 30th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Pam T #117–when people leave web addresses here they are spelling out the punctuation, since the zoo doesn’t allow links. So when you see (dot), use a . and when you see (slash), use /, etc., etc.
July 30th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
Hi! To those of you that were in and around the earthquake a couple of days ago, I’m very glad that you all got thru it safe and sound. As far as animals having a 6th sense of impending geological events, that is very true. Your cats knew before you did that the quake was going to hit just seconds befor the actual quake did. Apparently, they have that subsonic hearing that is so much more sensitive than our ears are, and they can literally hear what they ground is doing. During the 2004 tsunami after the 9.0 earthquake hit Sumatra Island, Indonesia, a lot of animals–domestic and wild–apparently knew what was going to happen when their hearing picked up the noise from the ground and literally sensed that the tsunami was coming, then ran up to higher ground. The Asian elephants were especially very sensitive to ground movements and noises. Alot of animals were alive because of that, but there were some losses of some of the domestic animals that were in corrals or were tied up and couldn’t escape fast enough. But, that just shows all of us that our animals are very good predictors of what maybe coming up because of their sensitive hearing and feeling of the ground as well as weather events.
Rose N., thanks for letting us know about that upcoming Travel Channel special. I will definitely be checking my TV listings to see this. I saw a news report on CBS News just yesterday about this. And, thanks for directing me to a website about chat acronyms. I will definitely, check that out! I know a few of those acronyms, but I would like to know about alot more of them. Maybe by using some of them, by comments maybe slightly shorter!
National Zoo has another pregnancy watch update for July 30 online with a chart for everyone to read and look at. No update on the main panda page today. They are confident that Mei Xiang is close to the end of her luteal phase, but still feel that she is still a few days away from ending that phase. NZ pandacam one showed Mei Xiang on the rock work sleeping late this afternoon. Also checked the Atlanta Zoo panda page, but no update about Lun Lun today. Pandacam is working; showed the den area this morning, then got back on it a few minutes ago, and it showed the indoor exhibit area. No sign of Lun Lun or Mei Lan, tho. They shut down the cam at 5pm EDT.
I am with all of you about Mei Xiang and Lun Lun—THE WAIT CONTINUES!!! Comparing Mei Xiang’s pregnancy behavior with last year’s behavior, she’s just doing things in such different ways this time around, and it’s no wonder everyone is a little confused right now. I sure am! I will also appreciate a panda expert to write us a pandafan friendly explanation about the female pandas and their pregnancy/pseudopregnancy phases that they go thru every year! Waiting for these female pandas to have their babies can be frustrating at times.
Mary in Brooklyn, enjoy your upcoming trip to China! I also hope that you will be able to see Hua Mei, Mei Sheng, and Hua Mei’s cubs when you are at Bifengxia. Have a safe trip to and from with travelling mercies! When you do get back to the states, write us an account about the trip and what you did there. We will be all EYES to be able to read it!
Solshih, I love Tracy Hoel’s idea of panda bracelets as a great fundraiser for Pandas International. Raising $64.00 is a great start, and I sure do hope that more money will be raised thru this project. The Pandas Band website will also help in raising more money for PI. Good luck to Tracy and her family. Hopefully, the 4 zoos that currently have pandas will lock in on this and help out on this nice fundraiser. PI needs all of the money that they can have in order to make sure that Wolong Reserve and other panda reserves have what they need to keep these pandas going and continue the research work despite what the earthquake had done.
Well, gonna go and get back on the pandacams.
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 30th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
the panda cam at the nz is not on. hopefully that means a cub is forth comming……and the villagers rejoice at such a thought!
July 30th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
The NZ cameras are off!
As we all know NZ said they would turn the cameras off when they thought a birth was imminent. So everybody please join me in a little prayer that all goes well and we will soon be blessed with another cub or two.
July 30th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
I wonder when we will know what is happening over at NZ?! It is all so exciting!
July 30th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
Just logging on here to confirm that the NZ cameras are off… looks like they are and it’s not my computer… Oh dear, lets hope they are off for a birth and not a glitch….
It’s going to be a looooooooooon evening……
July 30th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
# 123 – Liz ,
I tried many times and the cam was off.
Cross the fingers!
Twins!!!
July 30th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Thank you (AGAIN) SDZ for this place that all the anxious pandamaniacs can check in and ‘talk’ about (fingers crossed) baby pandas on the way!
I checked the NZ cams (both) and the first place I went to see what happened when they were both off was here!
Here’s hoping (along with so many others) that this is good news/sibling(s) for Tai in the works!!! Now, I’m going to start pacing in the ‘virtual’ waiting room!
July 30th, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Good Karma -Let’s hope so!
I just checked my TV listings for 6PM and found something very interesting on the Animal Planet channel. They are replaying one of my favorite programs: A Panda Is Born staring Mei Xiang and Tai Shan. I’m going to watch it while reloading my NZ pandacam / pregnancy watch pages repeatedly. I hope you all can join in during the camera outage as we await the news of Mei’s condition and hopefully the arrival of a cub or two.
July 30th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
OH MY GOSH!!! I have never been so excited to turn on the web site and the cameras WEREN’T on!!! WOOHOO!!!! Fingers crossed her in NC!!!
July 30th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Hi, panda fans…I just checked, AND both of the NZ’s PandaCams are OFF…I hope this means that Mei had finally decided to produce her cub(s) today, and that we all can breathe a sigh of relief…! She has certainly kept all the NZ staff on edge with her unusual pre-delivery or pseudopregnancy behaviours; let’s keep our fingers crossed that it will be the former!
I’m sure all of us will be constantly checking the NZ site for the rest of the day & long into the night, should the Cams continue to remain off! Chari, I also signed up for the NZ’s e-mail newsletter, so hope we can get the news as soon as possible!
I’m hopeful and encouraged that this might be the day; then we can all celebrate another joyous panda cub(s) birth!
Thank you, SD Zoo, for allowing us to blog about the possibility of Mei Xiang giving birth; it helps to have this forum in which to communicate with panda lovers all over the world, and we are very grateful!
July 30th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
The NZ cameras are definitely off. Not to break any bubbles but the Washington area is experiencing Internet service problems this evening. Hope this is not the reason for no video.
July 30th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
dear moderator…you must have connections and could call the nz and check on the status of mei.
you know you can’t blame a girl for asking and i hope you know that i am kidding.
July 30th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Hi guys,
Saw this on CBS’s news website. There is a video from Chengdu. It is in English.
http://www(dot)cbsnews(dot)com/stories/2008/07/29/eveningnews/main4304987(dot)shtml
Enjoy everyone!
July 30th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Someone who did the update on NZP panda cam page apparently made a boo boo. You can see the panda cam banner is totally off. I’d say it’s an editing error. Script is not running right.
July 30th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
WOOOOO!!!!!
The cameras ARE off! You go Mama Mei! It’s your turn this time! I’m just dying to see twins in the U.S.!!
And gorgeous Lun Lun is just around the corner!
This is just too exciting!! PLEASE let everything go well…….
July 30th, 2008 at 5:32 pm
Frances #120 Thanks, but I have been using the dots ( . ) and the slasks ( / ) but it still don’t work. I to went to the NZ website and the cameras are not working I to pray that there’s a cub on the way. I guess all we can do is wait and see.
July 30th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Cathy #127, boy I hear you on that… reload, reload, reload, check SDZ for updates, reload, pace virtual waiting room and repeat!
July 30th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Pam #128–I misunderstood which website you were trying to access.
Fingers crossed for more cubbies!
July 30th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
Dear Susan UK # 116:
Next visit to the SDZ will now require me to head for the Children’ts zoo first! I am going to stand on that bridge and WAIT for the reclusive turtle to make an appearance!!! Then we shall go the long way down through Bear Canyon and visit the Koalas…perhaps I’ll get to film one wide awake 
I’ve just read out loud your description of the WAP to my dear companion!!! I said, ” WE ARE GOING in October or if for some strange reason it’s cool in September (highly unlikely) we’re going then 
Bless you for your hints about the stork, the giraffes, the elephants, and the Hyenas! Thank you, Thank You!!!
To All: Mei Xiang
How many of you are clicking on to the NZ cams early and then watching Mei doing very little for the 15 minutes and then clicking ‘refresh’ over and over ??? I do this all throughout my morning and early afternoon (pacific time) 
Truly, I have literally sat with my trusty digital video camera and filmed Mei doing nothing while on the pandacam 
Each day I think ” This will be the DAY!” Mei beee
sooon!!! Then this morning (7/30) I got to watch Sweet Su hanging out in a tree when I took a break from the NZ watch.
Liz #123: I missed the ‘turn-cameras-off’ this afternoon…had 2 of my grandchildren visiting.
Keep The Faith!!!! I’m, at 6:00 PM pacific time, on the 30th going to leave and check NZ again
July 30th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Cams still off at the NZ – this is as bad as waiting for the birth of our first grandchild last week . Thank heaven Bai didn’t make us go through this.
July 30th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Cams still off at the NZ – this is as bad as waiting for the birth of our first grandchild last week . Thank heaven Bai didn’t make us go through this.
July 30th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
I checked the other animal cams on the NZ site and they’re working so…..could it FINALLY be happening???? I can hardly contain myself!
July 30th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Another member of the NZ waiting room thankful for a place to share my pacing
BTW, the other NZ cams are functioning properly, so it appears the pandacam has been turned off intentionally.
July 30th, 2008 at 6:49 pm
#131 Lucy – I don’t think it has to do with internet service problems in th D.C. area as the NZ ferret cam and others are working
July 30th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
SO EXCITED to get home from work and see that the NZ cams are off!! I wish they would put up a little comment, darn it. I remember the morning Bai gave birth to our precious ZZ. I was watching and saw her behavior and knew that the birth was imminent. It did not take long at all! So, hopefully, there is already at least one more little panda angel among us!
Susan (UK): Thank you so much for the update on Scout and Montana. I have kept up with your posts and am delighted that you had such a wonderful visit!! The polar bears are a huge favorite for me, as well. Many times when the pandas are snoozing, the polar bears are having such a blast in their pool — such joie de vivre!
And I want to thank all of the pandaholics — for a bunch of people who clearly spend so much time in front of our computers, it’s wonderful we all have such good friends to share the experience with!
Go, Mei!!!!!
July 30th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
It’s almost midnight in DC, and I cannot view the NZP cams. However, I can view them on Daniel’s multiple panda cam feeds, and both Mei and Tai are sound asleep (and the time on the clocks is correct). I fear Sayuri #134 is right, something is wrong with their feeds. I don’t know why we can see them on the Daniel site. Someone just mentioned that site a few days ago, and it is great! You can see all 5 pandacams at once–great when you are at work and want to take a quick look. The address is http://home(dot)comcast(dot)net/~dreidel/pandacams/index(dot)html
Believe me, I would love to be wrong and find in the morning that we have a new cub.
July 30th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
NZ cam is off, finger corssed. Please.
July 30th, 2008 at 9:44 pm
Mei is in the rocks NZ time 00.44 am
July 30th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
#136 Pam T.
I noticed you put the dot and the slash in parenthesis in your earlier posting. If by chance you’re not removing the parenthesis when you use the punctuation marks then that’s the problem. Also depending on what browser you are using you might not have to put the http://www. or even www. in the address bar even if you don’t see them there. Hope we get to the bottom of your problem so that you don’t miss out on anything
#121 Chari Mercier
I want to thank you for your updates. I too check all the sites frequently. When I’ve been keeping up myself I skim your postings in case you have something I missed. I was on a week long trip recently and although I had a computer with me I was just too pressed for time to do all my usual panda tracking. However, I merely looked for your updates and felt as though I wasn’t missing anything except for seeing the lovelies myself. Thank you. You saved me from having withdrawal. I’m off on another trip tomorrow and I’ll be counting on you
To Everyone,
Thanks for all your input especially those who translate from Chinese sources and those who share other internet and TV items.
SDZ Staff
A special thank you for all you do including providing this blog thereby giving us a ” home” in cyber space. Like everything SDZ does it’s fantastic.
July 30th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Thursday, July 31, 2008 12:30am—–
Hi again! I was just on the NZ website panda page and checked the pandacams to see what Mei Xiang is doing before I went to bed. BOTH CAMS ARE OFF AND ON READY! I sure do hope that this is a good sign that Mei Xiang is having her baby panda cub! From reading the last few comments, it looks like the pandacams have been off since around 8pm EDT tonite. Also, the keepers finally got an update written on the panda page for July 30–a little bit late. They already had an update written in the pregnancy watch page for July 30 earlier today (July 30). I am getting anxious and excited at the same time, you all!! Will keep checking the cams throughout the nite to see when they will be back on. Hopefully, we will be seeing Mei with a new baby panda cub in her arms!
Earlier tonite, I watched a repeat of the Animal Planet’s program, ” A Panda is Born” , about Tai Shan’s birth at NZ. That was fun to watch again and that reminded me of the last 3 years of watching this panda grow up from a tiny cub to where he is at now–a nearly full grown panda just enjoying his life at the zoo. Animal Planet also has another program on tonite called ” Wild China” , which explores the ecosystems and animals of China, and that does include the pandas. It’s really good, too! I just ran across this tonite, so didn’t get a chance to let you all know sooner. Hopefully, Animal Planet will repeat this program soon. Animal Planet does have a website, so if anyone is interested, you can check that site to see when ” Wild China” will be back on. I was just watching the last part of this program, and they showed Wolong Reserve before the earthquake hit and the staff taking care of the pandas there. The program also showed some rare footage of wild pandas in the Chingling Mountains during the breeding season—one male panda challenging another male panda for the rights to mate with a female panda. Then, the victorious male panda had his breeding time with the female panda, all caught on camera! This was really great to see, and panda researchers will now be able to see and understand the breeding and mating behavior of pandas. The program also mentioned the May 12 earthquake that has decimated a lot of the mountain ranges that the wild pandas live in, and no one still knows if any of the wild pandas have survived that quake yet. Let’s hope that we will get some news about the wild pandas real soon.
Well, I’m back to the NZ pandacams to see if they are back on and if Mei has had a cub. Be praying and hoping, pandafans!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 30th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
It’s me again! Between 1am and 1:30am EDT, I went back on the NZ website panda page to see if the cams were back on—not yet! Also, I checked all of the animal cams on their list to see if they were all working, and they are with the exception of cheetah cams 1 and 2, the kingfisher cam, and the elephant cams. The microtheatre cam is only on during daytime hours. So, my guess is that if Washington, DC area had an internet service problem, almost most of the animal cams if not all of them would not be working. I don’t thing that’s the case here, tho, because only the 2 pandacams are off and set on READY. I also don’t think that there’s a booboo on the panda page even tho it’s set up slightly different than it was earlier today (Wed., July 30). I’m hoping like the rest of you all that Mei Xiang has given birth to a cub (or 2), and we should be getting an announcement from the panda keepers at NZ sometime early in the morning after 7 or 8am EDT. My sister’s birthday is on July 31, so wouldn’t that be something to hear about Mei having her baby on my sister’s birthday!? WOW!!!
Gotta go back to NZ and check the cams again!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 31st, 2008 at 12:12 am
Atlanta Zoo update time! Just got on the AZ website to check on some info, and there it was—a new update for July 30 about Lun Lun with a new chart! The chart shows that Lun’s progestin levels have really increased alot and looking like those levels are about ready to peak. They are looking at a possible panda cub birth window of August 9-19, and that will depend on Lun’s pregnancy behaviors and hormone levels. From what I saw, it looks like Lun Lun has been in her second luteal phase. My guess is that Lun is about 1-2 weeks behind Mei Xiang. Keep your fingers crossed and keep praying that Lun Lun will also have a baby panda in the next couple of weeks! More anxious waiting time, people!!
zzzzz
Speaking of panda birthdays, the info I checked out on the AZ panda page was when Mei Lan was born. She’ll be 2 years old on September 6, 2008! WOW!!! I will be up and watching the SDZ pandacam on your birthday celebrations for Su Lin and Zhen Zhen! Su Lin at 3 years old, ZZ at one year old! Another WOW!!! They have both grown so much! It’ll be fun to watch these 2 girls go for their birthday treats! Fun time!!
A note of pride for all of us pandafans: We have been blessed with panda cubs for 3 straight years running since the birth of Tai Shan and Su Lin in 2005. I’m hoping that Mei Xiang and/or Lun Lun will continue that blessed streak this year!
Anyway, will continue to check the NZ website thoughout the nite. Will check in with you all later on in the morning hopefully with great news about Mei Xiang! Nite!!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 31st, 2008 at 3:55 am
7am EDT, Thurs., July 31—Just checked NZ pandacams, and they are still not back on yet. Been nearly 12 hours since they were turned off (if not a little bit longer than that), and no news yet! Still hoping and praying for a cub by Mei Xiang!!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 31st, 2008 at 5:04 am
OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY!!! I’d hoped to be the one to tell you the cameras were off, but no big deal. They are still off this morning 8:00 a.m. EDT. HOPE HOPE HOPE. Check camera, look here, check camera, drink more coffee, Is this how dads used to feel in the waiting room? This is so intense. Come on Mai give us a little one or two. I just hate this suspense.
July 31st, 2008 at 6:02 am
Okay Lucy #131 was right, darn darn darn. I guess we just have to keep waiting. I can hardly stand this. Just have the cub Mei, and make us all so happy.
July 31st, 2008 at 6:16 am
In D.C. they had problems with both of the web cams, I was waiting for some good news as were all of you but alas nothing yet, AZ is saying they figure a window of Aug 9th to Aug 19th for Lun Lun and the waiting continues
July 31st, 2008 at 6:26 am
9:15am, July 31—Got on NZ website panda page, and the pandacams are back on. There’s a note written on the panda page explaining why both cams were out overnite. They did have some technical problems that knocked out both cams. The keepers are still watching Mei Xiang very diligently, and they will let us all know if and when she does have a cub. Boy, I thought we were in for a nice big surprise, tho! This is not a letdown, ok? Apparently, Mei Xiang still has a ways to go before she will let us know when she will have a cub or not. On pandacam one, Mei was in her den; she was awake but a little bit on the lethargic side this morning. I’ll be continuing to watch her as the day goes on.
Remember to not let this be a downer. There’s still hope yet for Mei Xiang!
Gonna go and check the SDZ cam to see if Bai and ZZ are on the cam.
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
July 31st, 2008 at 6:30 am
On Monday, at around 9pm eastern time, I was watching the National Zoo’s panda cam. On camera one, I saw Mei Xiang sleeping on the rock structure on her back. During that time, I saw a small animal crawling by her left paw. It looked like a mouse or possibly a panda cub. She may have given birth while in that position but I don’t know. Anyway, the National Zoo’s Panda Cams are now up. They mentioned that they had a technical problem with the site last night.
July 31st, 2008 at 7:38 am
What a pity!
The NZoo’s webcam had a technical problem last night.
I’ve just watched Tai Shan enjoying a fruitsicle on cam I and II, at 10:30 AM , East Time.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:21 am
How sad everyone was hoping because the webcam was off at the NZ we were going to have a new cub. But it was just a problem with the webcam so we’re back to square one. I’m was watching a great show on the animal plant called Wild China last night. It was showing all the different species that live in the different area and how many of them are disappearing and their fight to save them.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:26 am
NZ cameras were off due to some technical difficulties, which seem to have been resolved. They’re back now, and Mei is still in the pictures. Keep the faith, fellow panda people!
July 31st, 2008 at 10:22 am
Well, NZ is back up running again and NO – We don’t have a new baby panda cub!! Darn! It is soooo hard to be patient but good things will come!!
July 31st, 2008 at 11:43 am
I’m sorry if this has been addressed in past blogs, but could someone please explain why and the purpose of pseudo-pregnancy?
July 31st, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Mary from Brooklyn – How wonderful of your husband. I showed the web site to MY husband and said something about it being the trip of a lifetime, and HE said well, maybe next year. I’m not retired yet, and we’re self employed so not so easy to just go. BUT…let me know if you’ll be ready to go back soon!!! You’ll be experienced. I will keep your Flickr info handy for pix.
Still hoping for panda babies this year….c’mon Mei.
July 31st, 2008 at 1:29 pm
If you search ‘giant panda’ under google news. NBC even did a morning news piece since they also assumed sth was going to happen as the cam was off.
Too bad
July 31st, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Awesome web cam views of Princess Su right now, she is one gorgeous bear!!!
Sure was sad to see the webcam back on at NZ… Hmmm, too conincental that it went offline as we are all sitting on pins and needles waiting for a cub….. I can only imagine how her keepers are all doing right now, waiting so patiently. I’m going away for a few days and won’t have Internet Access, so I’ll be thinking about Mei and everyone on here and hoping that when I come back Monday we have a new baby bear to celebrate…
Diana S #164, I’ll go to China with you.. ha ha….. I can’t seem to talk any of my friends into going to see the Panda’s… Yah, they don’t know what they’re missing…. It will be a trip of a lifetime no doubt…
Just a little thankyou to the moderator’s for letting us discuss the NZ and Mei on here, I just love this site and couldn’t imagine starting my workday without it…
Chari Mercier, I’ll be looking for you posts when I get back.
You are amazing, you should come to China too… We’ll have our own little group of SDZ Bloggers…
July 31st, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Well like everyone else, I have been through an emotional roller coaster thinking the NZ webcams were down due to an impending panda birth. Then when I saw Animal Planet was showing ” A Panda is Born” last night, I took it as an omen that Mei Xiang was going to deliver another cub. All hopes were dashed when I arrived at work and found it was just a technical problem.
Watching TV, it brought it all back what an adorable cubbie Tai Shan was. Those people at NZ deserve another cub after all they have been through over the years. They have a great panda facility just waiting for another addition to the family.
Mei Xiang has been totally zonked out every time I have looked at her today. ” This is your panda on progestins” (like this is your brain on drugs) it says to me. Keeping fingers & toes crossed that there is still hope for a cub. I hope Lun Lun is more considerate of us pandaholics. Come ‘on girls, ” Just do it!”
July 31st, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Conversation with Gao Gao #39
Mei Xiang: ZZZZzzz.
Progestin: Hello, Mei Xiang.
M: ZZZZzzz. (Oh, hello, Mr. Progestin.)
P: So-o-o. What have we here?
M: ZZZZzzz. (Huh?)
P: You hungry?
M: ZZZZzzz. (Kinda…)
P: How about a Kong toy?
M: ZZZZzzz. (Um… Thanks for reminding me. Cradle the Kong toy…)
P: And that nice grate.
M: ZZZZzzz. (Yeah. Nice grate…)
P: And don’t forget to lick your paws.
M: ZZZZzzz. (Mmmm. Can’t wait to lick my paws.)
P: And change your position a little here and there.
M: ZZZZzzz. (Mmmm. Yeah, change my position a little here and there…)
P: And sweet dreams.
M: ZZZZzzz. (And sweet dreams… of another Tai Shan… Hiccup! Oops!)
Su Lin: So did Mr. Panda King say anything about whether we will get new cousins in the US?
Gao Gao: I’m not sure. I guess I wasn’t listening.
S: But you enjoyed the Bamboo Horticulture Convention, right?
G: Yeah. The food was good. We had great lunch meetings.
July 31st, 2008 at 4:44 pm
#163 Michelle – I found this info -Female giant pandas always undergo pseudopregnancies when they ovulate but fail to conceive. During a pseudopregnancy, hormonal changes and behaviors are identical to a true pregnancy, which makes it very difficult to determine if a panda is pregnant.
Nature’s way, I guess of driving us all crazy & it can’t be easy for the female pandas to go through.
July 31st, 2008 at 4:50 pm
I don’t know — it’s looking like Mei Xiang is just a big ‘ol faker — maybe using it as a way to stay inside, in her air conditioned den and be catered to. BUT, I hope I’m wrong. Maybe she’s just a diva — and likes all the drama surrounding the anticipation — so she’s taking her sweet ‘ol time. Either way, guess we will know one way or another — hopefully soon. Looking forward to Zhen Zhen’s birthday — I know if will be a great affair — being as lively and inquisitive as she is. Can’t wait to see her with her big ice cake!
July 31st, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Since our girls’ birthdays are coming up soon, will there be pictures posted of their celebrations? I’m afraid I’ll miss it on the cam. We would all love it if there were pics/videos!
On the subject of Ms. Mei, do pandas all sleep as much as she has been recently? Or is it the hormones?
Lun and Mei, we’re all just waiting for you to bless us with babies!
Moderator’s note: Video of the event will be posted sometime during the day on Monday, August 4.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Well, did we all have a wild nite or what??? It sure felt like it!! Got on the NZ website panda page tonite to check in on Mei Xiang on pandacam one, and she is back on the rock work sound asleep with some boo by her side. The keepers have written an update for July 31 on the main panda page that explained about the technical problems with both panda cams and apologized for the inconvenience and false alarm! They also mentioned some things about Mei Xiang’s pregnancy activities. The pregnancy watch page has an update about Mei’s hormone levels for July 31 with a chart. It was a very short statement.
Did any of you watch ” Wild China” on Animal Planet last nite? I did, and I hope that AP will rebroadcast that program again for those people that missed it last nite. I watched it last nite, and it was interesting! Going to watch Samantha Brown’s 3 part programs about China tonite on Travel Channel. And, I watched ” A Panda is Born” again for about the 3rd or 4th time on AP. Loved watching Tai Shan when he was born 3 years ago and his first 100 days. One of my favorites!
Darlene, I’ll make sure that I do my best to keep you and everyone updated as best as I can about the pandas and related subjects. Have a good blessed trip! I agree with you about Su Lin; she is one gorgeous, beautiful bear! Don’t know if I’m nuts or not, but everytime the cam gets a close up of Su Lin’s face, I think that she is constantly smiling. I’m wondering if anybody else has seen the same thing? She’s a sweetheart, tho. Was on the SDZ pandacam a little bit ago, and saw Bai eating her boo, but no ZZ around.
I’m also glad that SD’s panda comment page has been available for me and everyone else to write on and share our thoughts, hopes, questions, and comments as well as just ” talk” to everybody about pandas and sometimes about other animals, especially the endangered animals. Love this format! Maybe the other zoos that have pandas will follow SD’s lead on letting the people who get on their websites be able to write down their comments about their pandas and other animals. Also, thanks SD for letting all of us share our thoughts about the China earthquake over the past 2 months. I’m sure that we will still be talking/writing about this for a long time to come because we are still wondering and waiting about the wild pandas that we still don’t know whether they have survived the quake or not. That’s a huge hurt on my heart especially after what was said about the quake and the pandas towards the end of ” Wild China” last nite.
Well, going back to the NZ pandacam to see if Mei Xiang is showing any signs of trying to have a baby panda cub. Hope you all are reading NZ’s panda updates about Mei!
Bye for now!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
PS: For those of you that are wondering about Memphis Zoo, no new updates about Ya Ya. They also have one pandacam that is on 24/7. You can go on their website and click on pandacam to see Ya Ya and/or Le Le.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:37 pm
Michelle #163–although the link below doesn’t exactly explain why pandas have pseudopregnancies, it explains a little bit about why it’s so hard to tell if a panda is really pregnant or not. It also shows Mei Xiang’s surprise delivery of Tai Shan.
http://animals(dot)howstuffworks(dot)com/mammals/panda-birth-rate(dot)htm
From what I read at Wikipedia, human psuedopregnancies are usually considered to be psychologically caused, while those occurring in cats and dogs are considered to be the result of a female mating with an infertile male. If anyone else knows more about panda pseudopregnancies, please tell us.
July 31st, 2008 at 9:54 pm
Hi again! Just got on the Panda’s International website to check on any new updates, and they finally got the Wolong staff worker’s account of her experiences during the May 12 earthquake online for everyone to read along with some great pics of the area. So, for all of you that don’t get the email newsletter from PI, you can go to PI’s website to read this account. Like I said in one of my earlier comments about this story, this was a heartwrenching account of what they went thru during this quake, and what they did to help themselves, the tourists, and the pandas in order to get to safe places. Please read this article and you’ll see what the Chinese people went thru and the heroism they had thru all of it.
Thought I would write back in to let you all know about this.
Checked NZ pandacam one for one more look at Mei Xiang; she’s still on her rock work sleeping the nite away!
Bye for now,
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
August 1st, 2008 at 10:18 am
I’m so glad you’re all getting to see Wild China on the TV. We were lucky to have it in the UK a few months ago and I have kept some of the ones I recorded. It is a fantastic series and I enjoyed every minute of it. We have another series just started which I hope you will get too: Lost Land of the Jaguar which is about the undiscovered rain forests of Guyana and how they hope they will be saved from logging etc. The animals they have found is fantastic – howler monkeys, huge otters and a Jaguar!!
Bobbie – don’t forget to take a packed lunch if you’re going to wait for the turtle; I don’t want the blame for you starving to death while you’re waiting!!! Oh yes, and maybe a folding chair so that you’re comfy. If I remember it was very very hot on that part of the bridge. I did take a photo but I’ve got a feeling Mr or Mrs Turtle won’t show up.
August 1st, 2008 at 11:02 am
Chari #171 Yes I watched the show Wild China I to thought it was a great program. I had mentioned in an earlier message about it. So true that Mei is mading us all crazy.
August 1st, 2008 at 11:35 am
I’ve been traveling for a few days with no computer. Can you say, ” Giant Panda withdrawal” ? I didn’t even unpack before I logged on to check out the panda news. I just knew there were be a new sibling for Tai Shan when I got home. Alas! Mei Xiang is taking her sweet panda time. At least I hope she is. P Wong, thank you for your wonderful ‘conversations’ between bears. They are like a ray of sunshine. I was watching Samantha Brown’s visit to Chengdu, on Travel Channel. It was wonderful seeing the cubs, the ” teenagers” and all the pandas in the center. She actually was allowed to hold and cuddle one of them. But it was bittersweet when you realize that this was filmed before the quake, and all that was once so beautiful is all gone. Thanks to all of you for your input on this page. I love reading it. And at least one of the zoos will have a baby soon. I feel it!
August 1st, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I was just comparing notes on when Mei and Lun were inseminated Mei on March 19th and Lun on April 23rd. They are giving Lun a window Of Aug 9th to Aug !9th I know every panda is different but I’m begining to wonder if Mei is pregant. I do hope so very much and if she isn’t I feel sorry for all she has been through.
August 1st, 2008 at 2:22 pm
Hi! WOW!!! August 1 has arrived already! About time for 2 of our favorite momma pandas to have their cubs, right? Waiting game still goes on!
Just checked National Zoo panda page and cam. Mei Xiang is back in the den sleeping on the platform (5pm EDT, cam 1). No regular update from the keepers on the main panda page yet, but the pregnancy watch page has the Aug. 1 update with another chart with it. They are still waiting as we are!!
Missed seeing Lun Lun on the Atlanta Zoo pandacam, but they do have an update about Lun for Aug. 1 as well. Seems like Lun is taking her sweet time going into the sleeping and no eating phase! Will be waiting on her as well!
August means back to school time around Pinellas County, Florida, in a couple of weeks. I’ll be able to have more time on MY computer when my son gets back to school! YEA!! By then, both momma pandas will probably have their cubs by then! I counted the days since Mei Xiang has been inseminated, and she’s over 130 days. I think that when she had Tai Shan in 2005, she went thru about 120 days gestation. So, Mei Xiang is making us wait a little longer! Haven’t counted Lun Lun’s days since insemination yet. But I’m sure she’s at around 100 days or so by now. I’ll let you know when I count the days since Lun’s insemination.
I finally caught little Miss ZZ in a tree branch at around 5pm EDT on the SDZ pandacam! YEA!! She was as snug as a bug in a tree branch rug, sleeping away the afternoon with her back to the cam!
Well, gonna go and get back on the cams. Write back later!!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
August 1st, 2008 at 2:54 pm
8/1/08
Congradulations to Guo Guo on her twins & Happy birthday to Sue Lin and Zhen Zhen . I am so happy to be able to be apart of this special panda blog to express the deepest love I have for pandas and all the animals here on this earth
I like to read what everyone has to say from all parts of the world. I dont know alot about pandas but I do know if I had the chance to go too chinas wolong camp I would!!!!! I love pandas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chari Merier Thank you for your knowledge you share with others.
Thanks for listing
Marlene Snyder in Seattle Washington
August 1st, 2008 at 7:22 pm
Frances in NYC – WOW!! I never knew there was video of Mei giving birth to Tai. Amazing to watch! I’ve watched the video of Lun Lun giving birth to Mei Lan many times, but this was a really excellent treat. I can’t believe the poor little thing bounced off the wall when he came flying into the world. No wonder he was such a wild child . . .
Thank you so much for sharing that!
Like everyone else, I am so hoping that panda-mama Mei has another wonderful surprise for us all.
And, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to our sweet, beautiful girlies Su Lin and Zhen Zhen. It’s all just so amazing.
August 1st, 2008 at 8:15 pm
NZ panda keepers have their regular update on the main panda page for Aug.1 online for everyone to read. Just checked NZ pandacam 1, and Mei is BACK on the rock work sound asleep again! How many nites has she done this to us? Quite a number of them, right? Oh well——
I watched Samantha Brown on Wild China when she visited Chengdu Panda Research Center and her encounter with the pandas of all ages. I could really tell that she had an amazing time on her visit there, and she just loved being with the pandas and even holding one. Samantha just had that look of ” I finally accomplished the one thing I always wanted to do” look on her face as well as that look of contentment. She really felt that she could stay there with the pandas forever! This was filmed back in 2007, so this was before the earthquake hit Sichuan Province. The scenery at that time was just absolutely beautiful, and it’s a shame that this gorgeous scenery is not there in a arge part of Sichuan Province. Still wondering about the wild pandas that are hopefully still out there!
Going back to the NZ pandacam and check on Mei Xiang. Finally got my first email newsletter from NZ. Some news about some of the other animals but no news about Mei Xiang yet. Did see Bai Yun a few minutes ago on the SDZ cam eating her boo, but no sight of little ZZ. In fact, little ZZ is not so little anymore! She’s growing up!!
Talk at you all later!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
August 2nd, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Marlene, The National Zoo is offering a chance to go to China with a tour group, lead by one of the zoo’s Panda specialists. It is for 2 weeks, leaves August 31 – - returns September 14, 2008. However, it is quite expensive, but if you can go, it sounds like a wonderful trip, and you would be able to see Mei Sheng on one of the stops. He’s quite a famous bear these days. You will also make stops to see other Panda Research Centers. You can read about it on the National Zoo site. It also has a chart of how much it will cost. Wish I could do it, but I don’t think my old knees could take all the walking. : )
August 4th, 2008 at 10:58 am
To Cheng
Thank you for your precise explanation of how to pronounce Guo Guo. My understanding is much like Go Go, but with a gutteral sound to the G. And yes, she is a heroine, indeed.
August 4th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
Another set of panda twins born in China. This time to Bai Xue (means ” White Snow” ). See photo:
www(dot)pandaclub(dot)net(slash)%5Cview_e.jsp?tipid=1217743046528
August 5th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
P.Wong was Bai Xue the panda who ran away and then just came home one day or is she the panda who they thought was a male and turned out to be female
August 5th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
186 barbara -
You might be correct about the runaway story. (btw – The ” Snow White” in the Seven Dwarf story customarily converts to ” bai xue” in Chinese. So sometimes the panda is also referred to as Snow White.)
www(dot)pandaclub(dot)net(slash)view_e.jsp?tipid=1153650621550
August 6th, 2008 at 11:42 am
P.Wong I checked back and Bai Xue is the panda who ran away from wolong in 2001 and wandered back into the employee area in 2005 they were suprised also because she was pregant. congratulations Bai Xue.
August 7th, 2008 at 4:03 am
I’VE WATCHED MEI (NZ) ALL NIGHT- I AM SOOO EXCITED- I THINK SOMETHINGS HAPPENING WITH OUR GIRL!!! I THINK SHE’S GONNA HAVE A BABY SOON!! AM I RIGHT THAT MEI XIANG AND LUN LUN (ZA) ARE SISTERS AND BAI YUN AND TIAN TIAN (NZ) ARE BROTHER SISTER??
August 7th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Male and female pair is born to first time mother Cao Cao (means ” grass grass,” pronounced like ” tsow tsow,” rhymes like ” cow” ). The twin cubs were born about 10 minutes apart. Cao Cao’s handling of cubs was a little clumsy but she is expected to be a good mother.
www(dot)pandaclub(dot)net(slash)%5Cview_e.jsp?tipid=1218094220805
November 22nd, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Awww… congradulations!!!!