Comments on: Weaning Zhen Zhen: Step 3

By: marlene snyder

marlene snyder — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:19:06 +0000

Hello to all of you at SD ZOO,
You mentioned about taking Zhen Zhen off the exhibit for little while. Do you know how long this will be? I knnow August is some months away but do you think the chance of Zhen Zhen being on exhibit is good:)
You guys are doing a wonderful job with the transition of Bai Yun and Zhen Zhen,Happy Trails To You All

By: Kristi in Dallas

Kristi in Dallas — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 07:03:49 +0000

Thanks Viola for reporting the antics between Bai and ZZ. Our little Zhen is so persistent!

By: Dianne in Texas

Dianne in Texas — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 00:40:37 +0000

Panda lovers: This has been the most interesting and enjoyable conversation/blog I’ve read in a long time. It is rewarding that nearly all of you, although you are pining for ZZ being separated from Mom, really do understand that this is a natural and necessary process. made more humane by human interference. What is also reassuring, is that San Diego Zoo, Zoo Atlanta, Memphis Zoo, and National Zoo, with all their staff, keepers and curators, are helping the process of survival of a species, the Giant Panda. Mary #19, the “rush” is not to wanting to see yet another baby panda. The rush (the correct word is “urgency”), is to guarantee that these wonderful animals (whose wild population is severely endangered) have a place in the world 50, 100, 150 years and beyond from now. And I pray that a way can be found to safely introduce/re-indroduce these pandas to the wild. #19, you obviously do not understand the urgency of this, or perhaps you are the one who doesn’t care? I do take offense of that categorization of all of us pandafans around the world. Yes, it is your opinion, but it is a misguided opinion. Before you blog here again, please take the time to educate yourself about the panda and their human-induced plight to survive in the wild. Thank you for allowing my personal opinion. And kudos to all of you for defending SDZ’s panda keepers.

Also, thank you, San Diego Zoo, and all the other zoos, for the wonderful role you have undertaken in the survival of pandas and the other endangered species of the world. As someone previously said, “You totally rock”, and then some!”

By: Chari Mercier

Chari Mercier — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:15:07 +0000

Hi! Got on the SDZ pandacam at around 11am PST (2pm EST) and saw Bai and ZZ having one of their great wrestling matches! Love it!! Don’t know how much longer we will be seeing that event between mom and daughter! Will try to catch them together as much as possible before the door to seperation closes between them permanently! That will be a sad day but at the same time, it will be a very nice day for Bai to be herself and an empty nester for awhile, and ZZ can start living her own life and further develop that great personality of hers. Just noticed the newest article about the next step in the weaning process, so I’ll be reading that soon.
Well, gonna go for now. Will write back later on!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL

By: Frances in NYC

Frances in NYC — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 18:11:39 +0000

Viola #58–I’ve always thought that ZZ wanted that particular stalk of bamboo just because it was in Bai’s grasp, so she could get Bai to engage with her, and Bai’s way of playing–or maybe asserting a little dominance–by grabbing the boo from ZZ. I’m sure there are lessons everywhere, but it still looks like play to me.

I have been a little scared the couple of times I’ve seen Bai sit on ZZ, but I think I still trust Bai not to squash what she has so lovingly raised for the past year and a half. They are bears, and bears play rougher than we do–and Bai is still training ZZ to be ready to face the world.

I’m sure there could come a time when the play turned more violent, and that’s obviously one of the points of the weaning process–to separate them before that point has been reached.

By: Viola

Viola — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:29:46 +0000

In the wee hours of this morning, I was finally able to get a wonderful clear image on the three panda cams in Chengdu, China. I have a new gratitude, respect and admiration for the caring and knowledgeable staff at SDZ and NZ. As a relatively new panda fan and cam addict, I have been really feeling sorry for little ZZ, even though as a mother, and for that matter, the owner of several dogs that need a lot of attention, I can identify with Bai and her need for some “me” time. On two of the cams there were young cubs, probably no more than three or four months old, if that old. They were alone, on a wooden platform, or bridge. They had been sleeping and a keeper came in, put them on their backs and gave them a bottle. Of course, they stayed with them while they took the bottle and one of them seemed to be talking to the baby, but as soon as the bottle was finished the keeper left to feed other babies. There was no mother in sight. One of the babies had a milk mustache and was lying there chewing on its paw. Of course, I have no way of knowing if the cub has access to its mother, but from what I have been reading about how early they take the cubs away from their mothers, I would guess not. At that moment, I realized how fortunate little ZZ is to have been with her mother as long as she has, and that no matter how hard it is at first, that she will be fine because Bai has been such a wonderful mother, and SDZ staff have been caring and loving keepers. I remember when I first started watching panda cam how amazed I was at how loving and caring this big bear was with the tiny cub. She put some human mothers to shame. These little cubs in China will never know this no matter how much love they get from siblings or human keepers.

By: Lee in Vancouver

Lee in Vancouver — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:13:28 +0000

It’s 9 a.m. PST and Zhen Zhen is loving her burlap bag. At one time it looked like she was reclining on a ship’s deck chair. Is there anything special in it? Any scent?

Moderator’s note: The keepers like to put ground cloves and hay in the burlap sacks.

By: Linda A.

Linda A. — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:26:11 +0000

I swear that in the early morning hours, the climbing structure for Su Lin in view #27 looks like a dinosaur skeleton.

By: Kristi in Dallas

Kristi in Dallas — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 05:35:16 +0000

It’s 9:30PT and Zhennie is in the tree adjacent to the left exhibit. Does anyone know if Zhennie can see her mother Bai when she’s perched up there? She does seem comfortable sleeping in this location and she’s facing that direction. Maybe she can smell her mother over the wall?

I would have bet she would sleep on top of the “keebler” den. That was/is Susie’s favorite napping spot.

By: P Wong

P Wong — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 03:30:24 +0000

Lots of new photos (2/13/2009) of pandas born in 2008 on Panda Club Web site.