Wolong Pandas: Life Returns to Normal
Posted at 8:06 am May 12, 2009 by Ron Swaisgood
Mountains of Bi Feng Xia
Scenes like this have played out for years in Wolong until, a year ago, everything suddenly came crashing down, quite literally. The earthquake that struck Sichuan last year, causing so much devastation and loss of life, also struck at the heart of China’s giant panda breeding program at Wolong. Most of the breeding center there now sits empty, its panda and human inhabitants now relocated to Bi Feng Xia, some several hours away. Today, the same scenes witnessed a year ago in Wolong now play out in Bi Feng Xia.
Entrance to Bi Feng Xia panda facility
Thankfully, the whole world rallied to help the Chinese people—and their pandas. And together, with your help, we at the San Diego Zoo have helped. In the past year, we raised $100,000 to help out those devastated by the earthquake, both the pandas and the people that care for them. We worked with the other zoos in the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and its Giant Panda Conservation Foundation, which raised even more relief funds for Wolong. Without this kind of support, the pandas’ life would not have been able to return to normal so quickly and efficiently. The pandas all still do not enjoy so nice an enclosure as they once had at Wolong, but they are well on the path to normalcy. They have temporary enclosures. Some new permanent enclosures have been built or are being built. They have a good supply of food and medicine and the basic care they need. A new facility just outside the Wolong Nature Reserve will soon be built.
The Chinese people and their pandas are resilient. But this kind of assistant was desperately needed. Our friends in Wolong, now Bi Feng Xia, are truly grateful. And we are grateful for all of the contributions you made. So, thanks!
Ron Swaisgood is director of Applied Animal Ecology at the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research.
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May 12th, 2009 at 8:21 am
thank you so much for yor update…it was a great way to start my morning and thank you again for keeping us all updated on the happenings in china. when the quake happened in china i was in yosemte and knew that i could count on the blogs to keep us informed about the pandas and their human counterparts and let us know how we could best give an assist.
May 12th, 2009 at 8:47 am
Thankyou Ron for you post. How wonderful to know that our beloved Panda’s and those that care for them are doing well after the utter devestation that was bestowed upon them last year. I for one will be watching the progress of the rebuilding as when it is built, I will be making a trip over to China. I have had the good fortune of seeing our San Diego Bears, and have added “going to China on my bucket list”!!!!!
I have donated a few times and will send another through PI to help with the replanting of the bamboo forest. Does anyone have any information on the wild panda’s and how they fared last year?
Just checked on the National Zoo site and couldn’t get onto one of the webcams?? could this mean something good is happening with our hopes of a baby?? Hmmm, I wonder..
May 12th, 2009 at 10:15 am
Thank you, Ron & Jennifer, for the updates on Wolong and Bi Feng Xia. It is heartwarming to know that they are overcoming the devastation of the horrible earthquake of last year. Glad to know that there are so many people willing to donate to the cause. Best wishes to all.
PS Here is hoping Hua Mei has another cub or two this year. Just like her mother, she knows how to mate the good old-fashioned way (even though she was an AI baby).
May 12th, 2009 at 10:37 am
You are quite welcome, Ron. Wish I could have done more. And thanks for the post.
May 12th, 2009 at 11:32 am
My goodness, it doesn’t seem like a year already since the dreadful earthquake. I’m glad that we all managed to help with contributions – it helps a bit if you can feel that you have somehow been involved. It’s great to hear that the pandas are doing well. They know they are loved. Let’s hope that nothing on the scale of the last quake happens again.
May 12th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Hi, Ron! Please tell the Chinese people at Bifengxia and the surrounding area “YOU ARE WELCOME”! All of us that were able to send in donations to SDZ, to other zoos that had fundraising efforts, to Pandas International, and other wildlife organizations were very happy to help out to make sure that all of the pandas and people were sheltered, fed, and have some amount of security and safety as they all still recover from this devastating earthquake that hit them a year ago. The Chinese people are still feeling the loss of families and friends, especially the parents of the thousands of kids that were killed in their schoolhouses. That’s the most heartbreaking thing about the devastation that this quake has done there. Just got my email newsletter from Pandas International, and they are remembering the one year anniversary of this earthquake by spearheading a new project to plant 3 species of bamboo in the mountains near Gengda where the new Wolong Panda Center will be rebuilding. It will be a 3 year project, and they are starting the fundraising now to get this started so that the wild and captive pandas will have enough food. It’s a tough project, but they know how resilient the Chinese people are and know that they will get this boo planted as quickly as they can. They have the rainy season coming up soon, and I’m hoping that there will not be any flooding this year. A good steady rain will help the new bamboo get started to grow. I’m also still wondering how many wild pandas have actually survived the earthquake a year later. That’s the biggest unknown after all of this! Now that warmer weather has come in, more research patrols will be able to get into the mountains to start looking for the wild pandas and get a good counting of all of the surviving pandas. Hopefully, the count of the surviving wild pandas will be a good one!
Well, gonna go for now. Will check back in later.
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
May 12th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
It’s good to know that they are finally back some normalcy, but I know much is to be done to help replinish the lost bamboo forest. What is SDZ doing to help with that? Will there be a fund set up for that? Thanks for the update, Dr. Ron!
May 12th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
It is good to hear that the pandas at Bi Feng Xia, including the ones relocated from Wolong are doing well. How are the wild pandas in that region doing a year after the earthquake?
May 12th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
On May 8 at 9:28 am, 5-year-old male panda Mei Sheng and female panda Ying Ying mated naturally. This is Mei Sheng’s first natural mating and it lasted 1 minute and 41 seconds.
Mei Sheng was born at the San Diego Zoo on August 19, 2003, which was the result of the collaboration between China and the United States on giant panda research. His father is Gao Gao and mother is Bai Yun. He returned to Wolong on November 7, 2007 and physical examination showed that he developed normally though he was smaller than other Wolong pandas of his age. After his arrival at Wolong Center, experts prepared special feeding and husbandry plans for him: he received loving care and physical training every day, and has been raised in naturalistic enclosures. With the great care of Wolong staff, now Mei Sheng weighs 94 kg, and all indices of his development are normal.
At 8:30 am on May 8, Mei Sheng and Ying Ying were put together and Mei Sheng approached the female initiatively. At 9:28 am, they mated naturally. Experts said that although it’s his first natural mating, Mei Sheng behaved well and was expected to become an excellent stud panda and contribute greatly to the panda breeding. (Wolong Nature Reserve Administrative Bureau)
Moderator’s Note: For more information, see Gao Gao Grandbabies?
May 12th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Moderator,
Would you be so kind to let us know the exhibit schedule of the pandas? The last time Ellie said that ZZ would be on exhibit starting 5/7, but it seems that she isn’t. What happened and do you know when ZZ will be back out again? I will be there 6/28-7/3, and would really like to see ZZ again during my visit. Thank you!
Moderator’s Note: See the latest information in the blog post Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
May 12th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Thank you for the update the earthquake has been on my mind for the passed week knowing the date of one year was coming up. I remember last year at this time I shed many tears for the pandas and the people of China. I know we all wish we could to more to help but I know very little bit of help adds up.
I’m happy to hear that things are getting back to near normal for our beloved pandas.
May 12th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
Hi, Susan H.! I have mentioned about the bamboo crisis on my comments (Chari #6). Pandas International has started to get things going on the replanting of the bamboo in the mountains near Gengda, China where the new Wolong Panda Center will be built. I found this out thru the email newletter that I got today from PI. They are starting the fundraising effort right now so that they can get the bamboo planting started ASAP. It’ll be a 3 year project for PI and the Chinese people that will be helping out with the planting. I’m hoping that everyone will help out thru donations, and that as many zoos and sanctuaries can start donation drives to help raise the money for this effort. The pandas, wild and captive, need this food because of what happened to the bamboo supply that got buried under landslides during last year’s earthquake. If you don’t get the PI email newsletter, then keep checking the Pandas International website for the online newsletter that should be coming up soon. Hope this will answer some of the questions for you!
Gonna go and try to get on the National Zoo website. Having a problem getting it up tonite. I want to see what Mei Xiang is up to tonite.
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
May 13th, 2009 at 8:54 am
When they finally switched a camera on Mei this morning she was slowly licking her left front paw. Then she switched to her right; then left again. I know the consensus is that she is not pregnant, but I for one, am not giving up on her just yet. Call me an optimist (which I am happy to be) but lets continue to believe there will be a cub shortly. Until the keepers tell me otherwise I can still have some hope.
May 13th, 2009 at 10:03 am
Hi! To those of you that were having problems getting on the National Zoo website last nite, it is back online and both pandacams are working today. Apparently, the NZ’s server went down overnite. Just watched Mei Xiang get started eating a huge monster stalk of bamboo on cam 1, and then watched Tai Shan eating a huge donut sized ice biscuit. He had a big mess on his mouth and stomach eating that biscuit! Also got on the AZ pandacam, watched Xi Lan and Lun having some playtime on the hammock until mom decided to roll over and try to take a nap. Little Xman kept on playing on the logs and the hammock. First time in a few days that I have seen both of them active. Usually, they are both napping right about now (1pm EDT).
Didn’t see Bai on the SDZ cam, so I think she’s wondered off to another spot.
Gonna go for now. Have a doctor’s appointment today to find out the results of the biopsy I had last week. Hope it is nothing serious!
Chari Mercier
St. Pete, FL
May 13th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Hi Chari from sunny FL!
Yes, I do support PI and I am aware of their updates and fund raisers. I have already gotten my In Memory of Mao Mao t-shirt! It is very cute and soft!
I am hoping to get an answer from the moderator regarding the exhibit schedule of our dear SDZ Panda kids here! ZZ is still not on exhibit in the main area as previously projected, wonder why….???
May 13th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
Thank you, Meerkats, for leaving camera 1 on just now. I was watching while having my lunch and found it amazing how the water emptied, pool cleaned (with human assistance) and the water refilled. That is some set-up you have there.
May 13th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
I have been watching N.Z.pandacam most of the day.I turned it off last night to get some sleep. this afternoon it loked like Mei was in labor She was really restless and doing a lot of licking in her den and now she is eating . She is really keeping us on pins and needles I sure hope she produces a cub.
May 13th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
It’s great to hear that things are looking up at Wolong. They have all been through so much, people and pandas alike. The wonderful people who look after the pandas obviously care a great deal about them and about conservation. I wish them all the best as they continue getting things back to normal.
#10 Lee…I’m with you. Although the analytical part of my brain has noticed Mei’s hunger and activity levels rise, I also know that Mei tends to defy conventional wisdom so I, too, hope for the best while considering the likelihood of a pseudopregnancy. I read on Thursday that she hadn’t cooperated for ultrasounds for almost a week, much as she had been uncooperative before Tai’s birth. I got the impression that they were still attempting ultrasounds first thing Monday morning (she was lured to and through the door where her training area is by the keeper’s voice and presumably, a big bowl of her favorite treats) and they are still on ’round the clock pregnancy watch as of this morning. The panda house sounds like it is still closed to the public (I don’t see any visitors checking Mei out today and I can only hear childrens’ voices outside but not inside) and Mei has remained indoors. I’ve seen her licking her paws quite a bit and although she seems hungry, she still isn’t eating a lot compared to what she would normally eat. She also has apparently taken her beloved grate into the den, as I was surprised to see her dig it up as she was pawing through her nest at midday. An early estrus and what, for a time at least, were inconclusive progestin levels tell me that the ‘norms’ didn’t apply in the early phases of her reproductive cycle this year and might not apply at this time, either. Maybe she is following the textbook wisdom and has reached baseline but maybe she’s throwing everyone a curveball. Count me in: I’ll believe it when I read it straight from zoo officials!
May 13th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
#12 Chari…Hope your biopsy results come back clean and that you are A-OK. The waiting is scary.
May 13th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Hi Chari…I second the motion of you getting good news from your doctor about your biopsy. Hope everything goes well for you today.
May 13th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Hi Ron – Your update is greatly appreciated. It’s wonderful to receive a first hand account on the present conditions in Bi Feng Xia. I’m happy to hear that the pandas are doing well. I hope that we will be seeing many baby pandas after this breeding season. Good luck and all the best to all of those people that take care of the beautiful pandas.
May 14th, 2009 at 7:38 pm
As a Chinese here in US i gratefully thank all of you friends above for your generous support for my country and our beloved pandas!~~~ Yes after one year we still mourning for our loss and surely we Chinese will still stand up tall for all the hardships. Everything is being rebuilt now and we really apperacited for all your help and we will remember your hearts are with us.