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xiao liwu

395

Comparing Panda Brothers

By
Jennifer Becerra
– May 20, 2013Posted in: Animals and Plants, Pandas
Bai Yun seems to be keeping an eye on her cub in this Panda Cam screen shot.

Bai Yun seems to be keeping an eye on her cub in this Panda Cam screen shot.

Xiao Liwu is a very different cub from his older brother, Yun Zi, but in a good way. He is very smart and is the youngest cub to respond so well to us keepers. Yun Zi did not start shift training (learning to move on and off exhibit when requested) until he was a little older than Mr. Wu is now (9 months old).

The important thing to have with the training and shifting is a reward (usually food) motivation. Yun Zi enjoyed honey water, and he was really good at following Bai Yun when she went into the bedroom, and after he arrived in the bedroom, he would come to us for his reward for coming inside.

Mr. Wu has plenty of motivation with play to follow us to the shift door, but he has learned that the play ends at the door. And sometimes he seems to just want to be carried to the shift door, so we keepers can do all the work! When he starts eating diet items regularly, he will start being motivated to come inside when asked. Xiao Liwu now weighs 31.7 pounds (14.4 kilograms).

Jennifer Becerra is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

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446

Panda Cub: Rolling and Tumbling

By
Anastasia Horning
– May 2, 2013Posted in: Animal Stories, Animals and Plants, Bears, Pandas, Uncategorized
The little cutie seems to imitate his father's relaxed eating style.

The little cutie seems to imitate his father’s relaxed eating style.

As the San Diego Zoo’s panda cub, Xiao Liwu, gets more and more confident in his enclosure, we are beginning to see some fun new behaviors from him and his mother, Bai Yun. So far, at least once a day the cub is coming down out of the tree to get some exercise with his mom and possibly nurse. The time frame and duration of his stay out of the tree has varied from day to day. Xiao Liwu enjoys coming down and jumping on his mom’s back and wrestling with her, and Bai Yun has been super patient and puts up with quite a bit of biting from her little one.

Bai Yun has been extremely relaxed these days and is maintaining a stable weight of 230 pounds (104 kilograms). She is not too rough with her cub and is showing off those mommy moves that we all love so much. As Xiao Liwu is teething and trying out the bamboo, Bai Yun has been surprisingly calm about him getting into her food and trying new pieces. When he initiates a wrestling match, she has been very obliging.

Two days ago, the cub gave our guests a heart-stopping moment—he fell out of the tree from about 20 feet (6 meters). As keeper Jen and I were talking, the cub was in the tree playing on a new branch and trying out some new moves. We looked up for a second, and Xiao Liwu rolled out of the tree! Wu never made a sound—just got right back up and continued playing. He’s moving just fine, and Bai Yun was not alarmed at all by the little oops he made from the tree.

Now I know some of you will be wondering if we need to check him or why we didn’t grab him, and the answer is simple: he’s tough! We did not see any limping or stress behavior from either Mom or cub. Panda cubs are designed to make those climbing mistakes at this young, bouncy age. That layer of baby fat helps, too!

So keep on watching and come see us soon. Just a word to the wise: there is NO schedule for when the cub comes down to play, so please remember to give him some time.

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

UPDATE: The main panda viewing area is currently closed as we make modifications to it. Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu have been moved back to the north exhibit, where they can be viewed by guests. Pandas Gao Gao and Yun Zi are off exhibit during this time.

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240

Mr. Wu on View

By
Elizabeth Simmons
– April 29, 2013Posted in: Animal Stories, Animals and Plants, Bears, Pandas, Uncategorized

T13_0244_019It has been about a month since giant pandas Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu have moved to the main viewing exhibit, and what a fun time it has been for San Diego Zoo guests and for our little panda boy! Mr. Wu has adjusted to the new exhibit very well, spending his days exploring every inch of his new habitat, from the ground to the trees. And when he explores the trees, he goes way up high!

Panda cubs are great climbers, and in the wild, high in the trees is the best place for cubs to stay safe. Mr. Wu can be seen lounging 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 meters) up in the pine tree throughout the day. He is a strong climber and gets up and down with ease. Keepers have also recently installed grass sod in the exhibit, and Mr. Wu is having a great time ripping up the sod and playing with sod chunks.

Xiao Liwu continues to grow like a weed and weighs about 30 pounds (13.6 kilograms). He turned nine months old today! Although he is not yet eating a lot of solid food, he does like to chew on bamboo and really enjoys applesauce. Mr. Wu is still a mellow guy with a sweet personality, and we are all enjoying seeing him grow up and become a “big bear.”

Elizabeth Simmons is a keeper at the San Diego Zoo. Read her previous post, Panda Cub Learning Routine.

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852

Pandas: The Transition

By
Kathy Hawk
– March 29, 2013Posted in: Animal Stories, Animals and Plants, Bears, Pandas
Xiao Liwu rests against his pillow as he plays Big Boy Panda with bamboo.

Xiao Liwu rests against his pillow as he plays Big Boy Panda with bamboo.

Giant panda Bai Yun and her now 8-month-old cub, Xiao Liwu, are slowly making the transition to their new enclosure in the main viewing area of the San Diego Zoo’s Panda Trek. The restless behaviors you may have seen from Bai Yun are absolutely normal during this transition period. We keepers are aware of how the changes can affect the bears, because I’ve seen Bai Yun go through this with EACH of her cubs.

For Bai Yun, the space is not new to her, as she has lived in this enclosure for many years. However, she has a new cub to care for now, and the scent of the previous resident, Gao Gao, is still strong in that enclosure. Although Gao Gao has been her mate and is the father of this cub, that matters not at all to her. In her mind, a male is in the area, and it could mean danger for her cub. As his scent dissipates, she will settle down.

For Mr. Wu, everything is new! The main viewing enclosures give our guests a closer look at the pandas, but they are also closer to the road, so there are new sounds to get used to. The cub’s new space is about the same size as his previous one, but it is shaped differently: it is longer and not as deep. There are lots of new things for the little guy to explore, and taller trees to climb! Cubs at this age do spend a LOT of time in the tallest tree they can find; in the wild, this makes good survival sense, as they would be safe from predators while Mom foraged. Xiao Liwu doesn’t have to worry about those predators here, but the instinct to climb is still strong.

As keepers, we continue to take steps to ease this transition time. We make sure we offer bamboo that is to Bai Yun’s liking whenever possible, we add various enrichment items with each feeding, and we continue to keep the access to her bedroom open, so mother and cub can retreat off exhibit any time they want to do so. Please be patient, this phase of unrest will soon pass!

Kathy Hawk is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

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118

First Snow Day for Panda Cub!

By
Jennifer Becerra
– March 18, 2013Posted in: Animal Stories, Animals and Plants, Bears, Pandas, Uncategorized

Yun Zi was 2 when he saw his first snow.Tuesday, March 19, starting at 7 a.m., we are preparing for snow in the panda exhibits. We are very excited and thankful to all the panda fans who donated money to give this wonderful enrichment to our giant pandas. I am sure we will see you at 9 a.m. sharp in person or starting around 8 a.m. on the Panda Cam!

It’s a bit of a process to actually make snow and put it in the exhibits. We have a truck that comes in and is specially designed to turn large ice blocks into snow. There are large hoses that we can hold and deliver (spray) snow into the entire panda exhibit. Snow will be blown into Bai Yun and Xiao Liwu’s north exhibit and into Gao Gao’s exhibit in the main viewing area.

Sadly, Yun Zi’s new tree will not be done in time (due to a couple of days of rain), and he will stay housed next to Bai Yun and Mr. Wu for a few more days. But don’t fret! Yun Zi will be getting snow, too, and we will make sure he has a mound of it to play in.

We are all excited to see how brave Mr. Wu is and what his first reaction will be when he puts his paws in it. Hopefully, it will be a wonderful play day for both bears and guests!

Jennifer Becerra is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

Here’s Zhen Zhen when she saw her first snow:

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227

Panda Cub: Growing and Climbing

By
Anastasia Horning
– February 8, 2013Posted in: Animal Stories, Animals and Plants, Bears, Pandas, Uncategorized
Cub blah blah

Xiao Liwu practices his climbing skills.

Over the last few weeks, we have watched Xiao Liwu as he acclimates to having people in his environment and handles being on exhibit for longer periods of time. So far he is doing extremely well: sleeps most of the morning, wakes Mom up, and begins to play. As he grows, he has become more sure of himself and has gotten more daring as he plays with his mom, Bai Yun. Each panda cub born here has been different in his or her personality and growth patterns, and it has been an amazing experience watching so many cubs grow up here at the San Diego Zoo.

As Xiao Liwu grows and becomes more confident, one thing we are going to see is much more climbing. Right now there are tree guards on the tree in the north exhibit so that keepers can keep and eye on the baby and get him inside in the afternoon. Once the cub is able to move to the main exhibit, he will have access to the outdoor area all day and access to the nice, big tree. Cubs have to begin climbing at a young age as a defense mechanism, since their mothers go off to eat for several hours of the day. Being up that high makes it less likely that another bear or leopard can reach the cub.

Another behavior that will be fun to watch is the playtime between mom and cub. Through Bai Yun’s actions, Xiao Liwu learns to defend himself. As the baby gets bigger, these actions will change accordingly.

Xiao Liwu’s exhibit is open from 9 a.m. to noon every day for right now, and we will keep you posted on when this may be extended and when the cub may move to the main enclosure. Hope to see you soon at pandas!

Anastasia Horning is a panda narrator at the San Diego Zoo. Read her previous post, Panda Cub: First Days on View.

SNOW DAY UPDATE: Thanks to our generous Wish List supporters, we raised enough funds to have one snow day for little Xiao Liwu and his family. But we’d like to have another snow play date! Each $10 donation will go toward a second snow day for our “Little Gift” as we hope to raise more funds to have a second snow day in the summer for his first birthday! See our Wish List for details.

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275

Starting the New Year Healthy: 20th Exam

By
Matt Steele
– January 3, 2013Posted in: Animals and Plants, Bears, Conservation, Pandas, San Diego Zoo Blogs

Giant panda cub Xiao Liwu was a very busy boy during his weekly exam at the San Diego Zoo. When brought from his den, the rambunctious cub went straight to his toys, climbing headfirst into a doughnut-shaped plastic ring, playing with a ball, and frolicking in a tub while chewing bamboo. He quickly indicated, by running off and squirming from his keepers, that he wanted to play versus being weighed and measured.

The cub’s 20th exam showed the five-month-old panda is healthy and developing well. He is stronger, more agile, and continues to erupt baby teeth and is mouthing, chewing, and teething a bit. The young cub weighed in at 16 pounds (7.3 kilograms) and measured just over 30 inches (76.5 centimeters) in length from nose to tail tip.

 

 

“Xiao Liwu was very active, very strong, and very exploratory during his exam this morning,” said PK Robbins, senior veterinarian at the San Diego Zoo. “He is moving about very quickly and exhibiting great confidence in his strength and climbing abilities. At this rate, I think we will see him venturing into more areas of the giant panda habitat very soon.”
Click on chart to enlarge.

Click on chart to enlarge.

Matt Steele is the social media planner for San Diego Zoo Global.
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