How does one write about moving elephants you’ve taken care of from a home they have known for over 25 years and one that I have worked in for almost 18 years? There are so many cliches that fit this situation, but none of them feels right.

On Thursday, May 7, the elephant keepers for the Zoo started work at 5 a.m. We did our normal routine that we have been doing for years. We put the girls in their barn and cleaned their yard. We readied their crates, and at around 6 a.m. we started to load them. By 6:45 they were all secure in their crates and the cranes were called to lift them onto their trucks for the quick trip to Elephant Odyssey.
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Rick is sharing his adventures in Africa with staff from our conservation partner, Elephants Without Borders. Read his previous post, Botswana: Chobe River.

May 9, 2009 (Saturday)

Yesterday, Friday, we did our last bit of filming and said our goodbyes to Chobe National Park. After we got the shots we needed, Shea Johnson, the San Diego Zoo’s videographer, and I had a great time just watching several herds of elephants come down to the river from the surrounding area. I’d have to say one of my favorite things to watch was the littlest babies rolling and playing in the mud. It was also very interesting to watch the mothers, aunts, and older siblings stand protectively around and over the youngsters while they played.
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Rick is sharing his adventures in Africa with staff from our conservation partner, Elephants Without Borders. Read his previous post, Botswana: Lions.

May 7, 2009 (Thursday)

In the morning we met up with Dr. Mike Chase and Kelly Landen to do some interviews with them about Elephants Without Borders (EWB). It was a beautiful morning, so we decided to do the interviews along the shore of the Chobe River near the offices of EWB.
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We have had confirmation from our friends in China that Mei Sheng, our beloved boy born to Bai Yun and Gao Gao in 2003, has indeed copulated with a female in Bi Feng Xia (BFX). Way to go, Mei Sheng!

In some ways we are all a bit surprised to hear this, since he is so young. Even our Chinese colleagues expressed their surprise at his success. It is definitely atypical for a male to achieve a copulation with his first-ever breeding encounter, especially when he is only five years old. But there are many reasons why Mei Sheng might have had the odds stacked in his favor. (more…)

As we’ve been anticipating, the great panda rotation has begun. Zhen Zhen has replaced her mother in the left-hand enclosure, and Bai Yun has been moved back into “her” area, the “classroom” area off exhibit that was her first home when she arrived here nearly 13 years ago. Bai Yun’s weight is up to around 220 pounds/100 kilograms, but whether this is due to a possible pregnancy, a pseudopregnancy, or the ability to eat uninterrupted by a persistent cub is anyone’s guess. We’re still watching and waiting; it’s been pretty standard procedure in the past to move her to the back soon after mating season, so we know nothing definite one way or the other.
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One panda sits peacefully munching her bamboo, gracefully stripping leaves from the stem, rolling it into a wad, and holding it in her paw to eat. Another rolls around, head over heels, playing with his new enrichment item. A new panda mother comforts her squawking cub, secure in her new den. Such is the life of a panda.

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.
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When I returned to China for the 2009 breeding season, I was overcome with joy as I saw my Chinese friends in person. After the earthquake on May 12, 2008, I found some way to communicate with all of them, but there is nothing like being face to face. Forgetting that I was in China, I went up to each of them and gave them a huge hug. The looks on their faces were priceless! They don’t traditionally hug as a greeting, so to have a tall blonde woman hug you in public was shocking to most of them. Afterward they all just chuckled a little bit and changed the subject.
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Rick is currently in Africa to see elephants. Read his previous blog, Botswana: Still Tracking Elephants.

May 6, 2009 (Wednesday)

Today we woke up before sunrise to gather some gear and head out to see if we could find the lions we had been hearing the night before. The air was cool and thick with moisture, dew had settled across the Chobe National Park, and it was just a gorgeous scene as we drove away from camp in the early twilight. Many bird species were starting in with their morning calls and scattered groups of impala were grazing along the way.
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Rick is currently in Africa to see elephants. Read his previous blog, Botswana: Tracking Elephants.

May 5, 2009 (Tuesday afternoon)

After lunch, we headed back the way we came, checking a side trail off of the firebreak trail for elephants, but still no luck and no sign of the elephants we were looking for. We turned back toward the river, some 60 miles (100 kilometers) away and decided we would meet up with the river at the point where the Chobe National Park starts and then drive in to the park from there.
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Rick is currently in Africa to see elephants. Read his previous blog, Botswana: Adventures Begin!

May 5, 2009 (Tuesday morning)

At this point I have lost track of the days and time is measured only by the sun coming up or going down. I love it. Every adventure thus far has all blurred together into one remarkable experience, and today has simply doubled the awe and amazement I have for Chobe National Park.
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