Uncategorized

panda cub

44

Yun Zi Rolls On

By
Ellie Rosenbaum
– May 12, 2011Posted in: Animal Stories, Animals and Plants, Bears, Pandas, Uncategorized

Yun Zi takes time to eat between bouts of redecorating.

Observant visitors to the San Diego Zoo’s Giant Panda Research Station, either actual or virtual, may have noticed the lack o’ tree in Yun Zi’s area. Yes, after another round of fun and frolic, the battered elm tree is now a well-shielded trunk. Yunnie managed, about a week ago, to clamber up high enough to cause concern—concern that he could uproot the tree, bend the top to the breaking point, or possibly lean close enough to the wall for a great “out of the exhibit” adventure. (This is not desirable with regard to a 113-pound bear.)

To eliminate any of these possibilities, it was decided to remove the top of the tree, leaving the trunk and the tree guard. Now, you might think that that would be the end of that, but oh no. Yun Zi is carrying on yet another family tradition, this time channeling his older brother, Mei Sheng. It was this first cub of Bai Yun and Gao Gao who shredded all the shrubbery in the left-hand enclosure, pulling off branches just for the fun of it.

Well, Yunnie has turned his attention, too, to the shrubbery in his enclosure, but rather than tearing the bushes apart (so far), his technique has been to roll over them, flattening this lovely, lush growth, to the delight of Zoo guests. He’s still young enough (21 months) to enjoy a good play bout and small enough to give off a cub-like vibe, even though he’s continuing to grow; he’ll reach his full size by about 4 years old.

The cost to the plants notwithstanding, each cub has provided us with his or her own take on “growing up panda.” While there’s still no word about Bai Yun’s condition (it’s probably too soon, and she may not have implanted yet), we’re all keeping our fingers crossed that we’ll have yet one more opportunity to share the joy that is a panda cub.

Ellie Rosenbaum is an educator and panda narrator at the San Diego Zoo. Read her previous post, Like Sister, Like Brother.

Tags: , , ,
196

New Chapter for Su Lin, Zhen Zhen

By
Megan Owen
– August 10, 2010Posted in: Animal Stories, Conservation at the Zoo, Events at the Zoo, Pandas

Su Lin

When Bai Yun and Shi Shi arrived in San Diego from China in September 1996, the San Diego Zoo made it clear that it was committed to giant panda conservation. Bai Yun and Shi Shi captured the public’s attention, and the problems we encountered trying to get this mismatched couple to breed mirrored the predominate conservation problem that researchers were trying to tackle at facilities in China: How do you get giant pandas to breed in a captive setting? How do you get pandas to do what should come naturally?

Over the next 10 years, our interdisciplinary panda team worked tirelessly to study all aspects of reproduction, apply what we learned to the pandas at the San Diego Zoo, and develop a two-way exchange of knowledge with our partners at the Wolong Breeding Center in Sichuan, China. In 1996, only two females gave birth at Wolong. Although captive breeding was only one component of the conservation puzzle, it was clear that without a self-sustaining and genetically diverse captive population, the ultimate goal of reintroducing pandas to the wild would never come to fruition. But how quickly things have changed!

By the time I traveled to Wolong for the first time in the winter of 2000, the breeding center was enjoying a record-setting number of recent giant panda births (11 cubs!), and the San Diego Zoo’s Hua Mei, conceived through artificial insemination, was charming Zoo visitors and giving us a lot to study in the realm of panda cub development. The studies of panda behavior, reproductive physiology, genetics, and animal husbandry had all come into play to support the success at the San Diego Zoo, as well as at the Wolong Breeding Center.

Over the years, we (the Zoo’s Panda Team, visitors to the Zoo, and panda fans) have developed an incredible connection to and love of the pandas that have been born and raised in San Diego. Hua Mei’s departure from the Zoo marked our first experience with sending a San Diego-born panda to China. She was followed by Mei Sheng in 2007. Although we all knew it was for the best, it was a tough pill to swallow, and Hua Mei and Mei Sheng were sorely missed. Looking back now, however, with seven cubs representing Bai Yun and the completely unrepresented Shi Shi’s genetic make-up, we are very, very proud to have contributed to the broader needs of giant panda conservation.

Zhen Zhen

Soon, both Su Lin and Zhen Zhen will follow in older siblings Hua Mei and Mei Sheng’s footsteps. As I write this, I can tell you that I will miss these two bears! Su Lin is five years old, has already experienced her first fully developed estrus cycle, and is more than ready to join the conservation breeding program at the Wolong Nature Reserve Giant Panda Bi Feng Xia Base. Zhen Zhen is three years old now and will embark on her panda adolescence as part of the panda program at Bi Feng Xia as well.

Both Su Lin and Zhen Zhen have made incredibly valuable contributions to our research program and have contributed ground-breaking data on panda hearing sensitivity. These data will allow us to better estimate how noise from human activities may impact giant pandas in the wild. Collecting these data allowed keepers and researchers to work with both of these beautiful bears, up close and personal, on a daily basis. What a pleasure that has been!

As the drive to learn conservation-relevant knowledge of giant pandas shifts from captive propagation to reintroduction, we are excited that the pandas of San Diego will become a part of this larger conservation effort. Who knows? Maybe in the not-too-distant future, one of Gao Gao and Bai Yun’s descendants will one day be born in a large, old-growth tree den high in the mountains near Wolong. That image alone is enough to bring a smile to my face and makes me truly feel that the Giant Panda Team, and supporters of the San Diego Zoo’s pandas, have much to be proud of.

In preparation for their new adventure, Su Lin and Zhen Zhen will not be in public view beginning Monday, August 16, while they continue a training program that helps prepare them for the changes ahead. Their mother, Bai Yun, and her one-year-old cub, Yun Zi, will continue to be seen at the San Diego Zoo.

Megan Owen is a conservation program specialist for the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research Read her previous post, Birthday Celebration.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
70

Bamboo Feeding Basics

By
Suzanne Hall
– July 30, 2010Posted in: Animal Stories, Conservation at the Zoo, Pandas

Where's that bamboo?

Recently, one of our readers asked us how much bamboo Yun Zi is eating at this point. At nearly a year of age, our littlest panda is beginning to use this foodstuff as a source of daily calories. Although this is a recent development for him, he has been engaged with bamboo for many months.

Our research on Bai Yun’s first three cubs has shown that investigation of, and play with, bamboo begins as young as four months (see graph below). The cubs will sniff, paw, and mouth the plant as they explore their environment. They even sit down and mimic their mother, practicing chewing and grasping the leaves in little rolls. All of this practice becomes important later on, as good food-handling skills can increase the efficiency with which a bear can process bamboo. That’s important, considering that the plant is not nutrient dense; pandas must ingest a lot each day to meet their caloric needs.

The need to develop good food handling skills is only part of the reason that panda cubs don’t routinely ingest bamboo at a young age. The other reason is hardware; or rather, lack thereof. Young pandas simply do not have the appropriate teeth for grinding and processing bamboo. These teeth erupt late in the first year, making it possible for the bear cubs to begin extracting nutrition from the plant.

Once bamboo feeding begins in earnest, there is a lengthy period of mixed feeding that follows. During this time, the cub is ingesting both milk and bamboo. The weaning window at about 18 months corresponds with the time when a cub is fully capable of meeting his or her nutritional needs without milk. However, we have seen with our recently weaned cubs that they typically spend more time feeding on bamboo than our adults do. This indicates that the cubs still haven’t developed adult-level proficiency in processing the food quickly at that age. It appears to take another six months or so before their feeding time is comparable to that of an adult.

Suzanne Hall is a senior research technician for the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research.

Tags: , , , , ,
199

Pandas: A Fresh Perspective

By
Ellie Rosenbaum
– July 7, 2010Posted in: Animal Stories, Pandas

Bai Yun

I’ve been away from the San Diego Zoo for a while, but the intervening months have brought many changes to the San Diego Zoo and, of course, to “our” pandas. Coming back to work has given me fresh eyes, almost like a guest, and the Zoo is truly an even more remarkable place than I remember.

The first thing that struck me in early May was the construction. If you haven’t been here since last summer, it’s time for another visit. There’s a new Mercado in front of the freshly opened facade of the Reptile House, our Galápagos tortoises are being moved into their wonderful new quarters, and our dining options are more diverse than ever. Familiar services, like the Camera Den, have been shifted and improved—all in all, a brighter and more exciting look to our nearly 94-year-old facility.

With all of these changes, though, the core of the Giant Panda Research Station—the wonderful bears—have remained pretty much the same. Bai Yun is still the supermom that she’s always been, even mellower, if that’s possible. Gao Gao, in his off-exhibit enclosure, is doing his 19-year-old-panda-male thing of eating and sleeping. With the exception of his seasonal interest in the pandas ladies, he is reminding me of a young Shi Shi, content with his solitude and bamboo. Gao is, however, ever cooperative with his keepers and the research staff (coincidentally, mostly female).

Su Lin is all grown up now and reminds me, in her overt behavior, more and more of Bai Yun at the same age. Su still retains the sensitivity of her father, but Mom’s mellowness seems to win out in her disposition. Zhen Zhen remains a piece of work, as they say. As wild as Su Lin could be in one of her “moods,” it seems to be a more permanent state for ZZ, more common than not. She appears to be more of a blend of her sister, Su, and her brother, Mei Sheng; could this be a more assertive female as she matures, or will she outgrow her rambunctious ways?

Yun Zi

The biggest surprise for me was Yun Zi. Still super easygoing, with an experienced mother that has fussed less over each subsequent cub, he’s much different than brother Mei Sheng at the same age. Even when he wants his mother’s attention, he’s less persistent and more willing to entertain himself—the most self-possessed youngster of them all. I’ve wondered if, in fact, this was going to be the cub most like his grandfather, the great Pan Pan: large and serene, and all “take care of business.” Since Yun Zi is only approaching his first birthday, it will be awhile before we know, but as always, it’s going to be fun to watch.

Ellie Rosenbaum is a panda narrator at the San Diego Zoo.

Tags: , ,
101

Panda Cub Comparisons

By
Debbie Andreen
– June 28, 2010Posted in: Animal Stories, Pandas

I find it so interesting to see the weight comparisons of the five pandas born at the San Diego Zoo. The chart below was provided by our helpful Nutrition Department staff. You’ll have to scroll down a bit to see it, as it’s large. I added a photo of Yun Zi with two of his toys, just for fun. Enjoy!

Tags: , , ,
202

Yun Zi: 10 Months

By
Debbie Andreen
– June 15, 2010Posted in: Animal Stories, Pandas

It’s about time for an update on our little guy! Now 10 months old and weighing in at 41 pounds (18.8 kilograms), Yun Zi is an easy-going panda youngster that sleeps during a good part of the day and is quite active at night, as many of you have observed on the San Diego Zoo’s Panda Cam.

This morning, I chatted with one of our panda narrators, Kay Ferguson. The first thing she told me was that Yun Zi is NOT a morning bear. These days he will often sleep, waaay up in the trees, until 2 p.m. or so, unless Bai Yun wakes him for a feeding. But how does she wake him when he’s up so high? Kay explained that Bai simply stands under the tree and calls to him, making a bleating sound. The panda pair has access to their bedrooms at night, but they don’t always sleep together. Sometimes Bai Yun retires to the bedroom for a nap, leaving Yun Zi to snooze in his favorite treetop perch.

The cub is still nursing, and when he gets hungry, he seeks out his mother. However, in Bai’s opinion, a fresh delivery of bamboo often trumps feeding her cub, at least for a few minutes. Yun Zi has learned to be patient—Mom will be available shortly! Fortunately for him, there are also carrots, yams, leaf eater biscuits, and apples (a favorite with both mother and son) to enjoy. Yun Zi is also practicing his bamboo-eating skills, but right now he’s still at the nibbling stage of the process.

Another new skill Yun Zi is working on is scent marking. Whenever he sees Bai make a scent, he comes dashing over to sniff it intently, rub it all over his little body, and place his own scent on top of it. This can often keep him quite busy. When he was nine months old, Kay noticed Yun Zi scent marking using the “handstand” technique, just like his father does!

And of all the new toys the pandas received, his favorite one so far is the floating platform (pictured at top). Surf’s up!

Debbie Andreen is a blog moderator for the San Diego Zoo.

Tags: , , , , ,
322

Little Bears and Big Sleeps!

By
Anastasia Horning
– April 30, 2010Posted in: Animal Stories, Pandas

Who says I sleep all the time?

So often, now, when guests come to see the panda cub at the San Diego Zoo they are met with the back of Bai Yun and the fuzzy little ball that is Yun Zi. Always let down, they say that they’ll come back, only to be met with the same greeting! Well, believe it or not, this is what we on the Panda Team are greeted with as well!

 
Our cub is growing more and more each day, and though there are times we don’t really notice it unless we are away from him for a few days, we see the numbers coming in! He has been chewing on bamboo, and a few of the keepers have noticed some small pieces of bamboo in some baby fecal matter! He is only days away from being nine months old, and we are happy to see that he’s actually on pace for one of the major panda cub milestones: eating solids! If you recall, he was the late bloomer out of the five cubs born here in the “leaving the den” and “walking outside” categories!
 
I have had several guests tell me that when they watch the Panda Cam at night, sometimes around 10 our time, they see Yun Zi and Bai Yun playing and roughhousing. Giant pandas often wake up at night to get a snack, and our boy is no different in that respect. Tuesday, the cub made several attempts to play with Mom; unfortunately, Mom was a little too sleepy., probably because she was playing with her cub at night!
 
When you come to see our little boy, just remember: he’s growing, and we will eventually see an increase in his activity levels during the day!
 
Anastasia Horning is a panda narrator at the San Diego Zoo.

Tags: , , ,
250

Perfect Panda Photos

By
Anastasia Horning
– March 12, 2010Posted in: Animal Stories, Pandas

Picture-perfect Yun Zi!

As you walk into the Giant Panda Research Station at the San Diego Zoo, the first bear you see is Su Lin. She’s been going through some definite hormone changes recently, and our research team is monitoring her. With these changes comes a restlessness that makes it rather difficult for our guests to get a photograph of our girl! Currently, we are seeing her sleep a good part of the day, sitting in water and playing, and walking a good bit! These are all behaviors that we have seen previously with Bai Yun, so she’s really not surprising us, except with how early she started her estrus this year!

Bai Yun and Yun Zi are in the next exhibit and are both doing very well. Yun Zi is really exploring his trees in the exhibit, and often you can’t really see him clearly in the trees while he’s sleeping. Bai Yun has been pretty good about eating where our guests can see her; she even gives guests a view of her nursing the cub. We can never tell when the little guy will wake up, or what he’ll do when awake, so having a rare peek at panda motherhood is always a real treat.

Gao Gao is still off exhibit and has been doing very well. Right now he will remain there so Su Lin can stay in the front, close to our soundproof area for the hearing study (see post Panda Care).

Zhen Zhen is in the off-exhibit classroom area and has really adjusted well. She and Gao Gao sometimes communicate with each other, and Zhen Zhen is constantly in the trees trying to see the bear she’s “talking” to. Remember: the two will never have direct access to each other, as they are father and daughter. Even though Zhen Zhen isn’t reproductively mature, we wouldn’t want to breed Gao with his daughter, and we don’t know if there would be any unfriendly behavior on his part.

If you cant visit the San Diego Zoo for your perfect photo opp, do keep an eye on the Panda Cam, as we focus on Zhen Zhen and Gao Gao from time to time!

Anastasia Horning is a panda narrator at the San Diego Zoo.

Tags: , , , ,
250

A Yun Zi Story

By
Heidi Trowbridge
– February 23, 2010Posted in: Animal Stories, Pandas

I am not sure I have ever seen something as cute as a baby panda. Of course, baby anything is adorable, but this is even beyond that. I have been caring for each of the San Diego Zoo’s giant pandas for over three years now, and I have seen them breed, give birth, and grow into their own unique individual selves. Most often each day is fairly routine in regard to their care and training. Every so often, however, certain days make an impression on me and my fellow keepers.

On this particular day, Yun Zi displayed some very comical and endearing behaviors that reminded us how purely playful and entertaining these babies are. This was a very wet day. The rain had held off most of the morning, so we had decided to give Bai Yun and Yun Zi access to the outside enclosure. However, it started to rain before we had a chance to bring the bears back inside. Little Yun Zi just experienced his first real “rain day,” and I think he liked it! How do I know this? Here’s the clue…

As the rain continued, it collected in the bottom of the moat area along the edges of the enclosure. The tall landscaped brick wall that stretches across the front of the enclosure was muddy, slippery, and very steep. Keepers only trek that wall under favorable and necessary circumstances. But on this day, Yun Zi would change the rules! Shortly after the heavy rain started, he nonchalantly made his way down the wall and planted himself in the furthest, wettest corner of the moat. This was not his normal place to “hang out,” and why he picked the rainiest day of the year to go there, we will probably never know.

Once there, though, he happily played with a tuft of grass, ignoring any and all attempts we made to entice him back up the wall. He was soaking wet, completely happy, and playing with the most simple of toys: a few green strands of muddy grass. We all laughed at the irony of that! Here we have many fancy toys for his choosing, and he would rather play with a tuft of grass.

Well, after adoring him for a while, we all concurred that someone had to go get him out of the moat. I got nominated to climb down the wall, in the rain, and retrieve this venturesome bear. This meant picking him up by the scruff (as his mother does) and caring his then 19 pounds (8.6 kilograms) up the steep, slippery wall. I was less than thrilled to do this in the rain. As I made my way down the slope, Yun Zi was watching me closely as I slowly approached him. I saw his wide eyes as I got closer, and I suddenly realized that I was wearing a bright yellow rubber rain suit that he had probably never witnessed before. It obviously made him think that I was a big, scary, yellow monster coming to get him!

I didn’t want to scare the black off of him, so I surmised that the quicker this was over with, the better for both of us. I curled my hand around the back of his neck and scruffed him. I then supported his back end with my other hand and balanced each step back up the wall. Naturally he was wiggling and trying to bite my supporting arm with his small teeth. He does have great pressure in his jaws, but not enough to cause any damage through my rain jacket. As I reached the top, I handed him off to my fellow keeper, who also struggled to contain his feisty body. Yun Zi was gently put into the tunnel leading into the den to reunite with his mom, Bai Yun. I think she was happy for the help we provided in retrieving her youngster. After a look of disapproval at the monsters, Yun Zi sauntered into his den and continued playing with bamboo sticks for some time.

It doesn’t take much to entertain a baby panda. It also doesn’t take much for us to fall in love with a baby panda.

Heidi Trowbridge is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo. Read her previous post, Fossa Milestones.

Tags: , , , ,
132

Den, Training, and Bamboo

By
Anastasia Horning
– February 18, 2010Posted in: Animal Stories, Pandas

Here are answers to some questions posed by our readers…

Den closure
Yun Zi has officially left the DEN! Keepers are no longer allowing him access to the den, and this is a decision to help him get ready to go to the main exhibit soon. Yun Zi isn’t looking for the den. In fact, he’s too busy playing, and he sleeps in his climbing structure most of the time. This is completely normal, and we are so pleased with how things have been progressing. Currently he is about 30 pounds (13.6 kilograms) and growing every day. Bai Yun is about 234 pounds (106 kilograms) and looks wonderful wearing it!

Panda training
All of our keepers are experienced in training animals, from primates to cats. All of them are qualified to train and are given equal opportunity to work panda cubs and train them. Kathy Hawk, senior keeper, leads the training with Bai Yun. The two of them have been together for almost 14 years now. Angie Fiore leads the training with Su Lin. Juli Borowski leads the training on Zhen Zhen, and everyone works with Gao Gao. Each keeper has a bear that they can focus on, but everyone is eventually working on the same behaviors with each bear.

Food is a great motivator for animals, especially if it’s a rare treat. Our pandas love apples, but something I didn’t learn until just recently is that we also train the pandas with honey. I knew they loved honey, but I had never seen it used in this way. Sure enough, Kathy will often use it to encourage Bai Yun to hold her still while a vet is conducting an ultrasound. I keep learning every day about these guys! Toys aren’t used for training, mainly because playing with a toy as a reward isn’t conducive for training.

Plants as enrichment
All of our cubs have played in the plants growing in our panda exhibits. We make sure we put plants in there that smell good and are safe to eat in case our cubs want to chew on them. Su Lin and Zhen Zhen still play with the plants that we put in their exhibits on a regular basis.

Bamboo preferences
Bai Yun doesn’t eat all of the bamboo that we offer her. In fact, we feed out about five different types of bamboo on a daily basis. Sometimes pandas go for really leafy bamboo, but other times they go for the bamboo that is a little thicker in the stalk. Their favorite type of bamboo is giant timber bamboo Bambusa oldhamii; they usually go for this first, and they get it every meal. Bamboo does have different seasons, and the pandas are the best judge of when bamboo is in season and when it’s not. If we offer a certain bamboo species and the pandas don’t go for it, that gives us a clue that it might not be in season. We give them 18 different species of bamboo throughout the year, so we always have some options. Other than bamboo, we provide our pandas with cut-up apples, yams, carrots and folivore (leaf eater) biscuits, which is a manufactured treat for them. We can tell what they’re eating by the leftovers when we clean up. This offers us information on what they will eat, when, and how much.

Anastasia Horning is a panda narrator at the San Diego Zoo.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,
Older Entries