Hot weather has finally arrived in San Diego (hot, at least by our standards) but it’s staying somewhat cooler in Panda Canyon, at least for the pandas. Su Lin is back out on exhibit, as many of you have noticed, and often retreats to the cool, quiet front corner on top of the drain to nap. Zhen Zhen has been napping mornings in the favored elm tree, retreating to the shady corner near the exhibit bedroom as it gets cooler. Keepers have turned on the fans to blow in the mist as needed, and even we panda narrators are being refreshed by a nearly constant breeze coming up the canyon.
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Part of my enrichment study is to encourage naturalistic behaviors of the marsupials I am watching (see post, Monkeying Around…with Marsupials!). For example, animals in the wild don’t have their food provided for them at regular times each day. Instead, they have to go out and find food for themselves. Some days, food may be easy to get while other days they may have to search longer, dig, or even use tools to get what they need. And other days they may not even find food at all. This is not a bad thing, however, because having a challenge builds the knowledge and skill set of an animal and can make it that much more successful the next time it has a hard time finding food.
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The birthing den Bai Yun has used for all four of her cubs thus far is usually kept closed. Most of the time, it sits idle and bear-less, because offering a panda access to the den at the wrong time seems to ensure it will be used for the wrong reasons. In the past, if the den was opened beyond the time that Bai Yun needed it, or if alternate dens had been provided for her to choose from, she typically started using the space as a latrine.
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A few months ago we started working on program for our dedicated polar bear and giant panda fans to allow them to get in the driver’s seat and take a stance in the effort to save these two majestic bears. Today we are excited to announce that the program – which we are calling Animal SOS – is finally ready for all of you to see. www.sandiegozoo.org/animalsos
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The silver-leaf langur babies at the San Diego Zoo are doing very well (see previous post, Langurs: Bright Orange Babies). Tevy’s baby, born on February 26, 2009, is almost all silver with only a little bit of orange left. Adamena’s baby, born on April 13, is still mostly orange. The babies play together throughout the day. I have seen them climbing around and jumping from one branch to the next. They will swing around on branches, holding on with one hand, and hang upside down.
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Things are falling into line in preparation for a possible panda birth this summer. Our camera system is squared away, other preparations are in place or are in final stages, and Bai Yun is being closely watched for signs of pregnancy. While there was a time when we could not easily discern what the signs she registered might mean, we have learned a lot over Bai Yun’s lifetime that helps us to better understand where she is at, reproductively speaking.
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Some new babies are growing in the San Diego Zoo’s plant propagation nursery: Eucalyptus trees! As many people know, koalas eat mainly Eucalpytus leaves, and part of my job as a plant propagator is to grow food for the animals. These seedlings will eventually be planted at a browse farm off site where the trees are grown in rows and cut back to maintain the new, juvenile leaves the koalas love.
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The San Diego Zoo is very excited to announce the birth of one of the more unusual creatures in its collection: an okapi. On June 10, 2009, Safarani gave birth to her third offspring, a baby boy. At a month old, Sekele (meaning “secret”) is already weighing in at about 100 pounds (45 kilograms). An old pro at motherhood, Safarani is taking wonderful care of her young one. After nearly a month of being held in the “maternity yard,” mother and child have recently been introduced to their exhibit in the Zoo’s Lost Forest zone.
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It’s hard to believe that it’s been 13 years since we opened Polar Bear Plunge at the San Diego Zoo in 1996! Chinook was 1½ years old, and Kalluk (pictured) and Tatqiq were still 5 years from existing. When we designed what would be at the time the world’s largest polar bear exhibit, we had not planned on how fast things would change in the polar bear’s world.
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We have a troop of six lion-tailed macaques (one male and five females) at the San Diego Zoo. They have a beautiful habitat on the Sun Bear Trail in the Asian Passage zone. These energetic monkeys are very entertaining to watch: they love ripping boxes and bags open to see what’s inside, like opening a present. The troop likes to keep busy, so we provide enrichment for them at least three times a day.
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