Shaky! Thank you for all that you do for us on the Forum!

Posted today:

One of the surviving brothers has hit a window at Moore College (same area where the female hit a window and died from injuries) and suffered a concussion.  He's at a rehab facility and they hope for a quick release.

Nice album, Ei! Thanks for sharing!

So sad to hear this and praying for his full recovery. 

http://www.8newsnow.com/story/22892334/feds-say-falcons-recovered-no-more-chick-rescues

                          

Caught the lovebirds today!

!!! The girls at play! Anything can be a toy! Good shot Karen!
July 19, 2013 - Toronto - Don Mills

CPF Postmaster Reports:
July 19th - 2013
Just a little update for the end of a very hot week. Didn’t see much of them at all this week until this morning to what it looked like to be Carina and Luna flying around from the nest building to the Harlequin’s rooftop screaming at one another. No Mom and Dad. One of the juvies landed on the ledge of the nest building and when I went over to have a look she was playing with a tree branch until the other one was swooping down at her like kids trying to taking the toy away. I thought this was odd so I took a picture with my IPhone I have attached the pictures so you can see.

I hope the weather cools down soon for all of us, have a good weekend.
Karen

Check out the Twins!

http://us7.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d9031a7794b0f73577cc878c5&id=8a51c69bd5&e=e4eff45b1e

Cams are back

Swift take-off

Thanks, Annette!

Very nice!

Panda Updates

Friday, July 19
Both cubs continue to do really well. They have both surpassed their birth weights and we are really happy about that. Lun Lun continues to do really well with the cub swaps too. She is spending more time resting near the window we reach through to remove the cub. So, that makes it easier. She is also more interested in the sugar cane we offer her for the cub. Sometimes when she is not near the window, we can call to her and she will move over. But sometimes she is sleeping and it takes longer to get her in position to do the swap. There have been a few times when the cub in the incubator has been really hungry and calling loudly, but Lun Lun is sleeping soundly with the other cub. In those cases, we have sometimes had to reach in and pat her or scratch her to wake her up. She has been remarkably tolerant of all this.

I'm sure this seems strange to many of you, because she is a bear. Shouldn't she be protective of her cubs? I can tell you from observing lots of giant panda mothers at the Chengdu Zoo and Chengdu Research Base during my study of maternal behavior that those mothers also behaved like Lun Lun. I think that the best way for a giant panda mother to protect her cub in the first few weeks is to hold it. She can't risk putting it down to chase away a threat, because the cub might get cold or accidentally stepped on or snatched away by a quick predator. So, the mom holds her cub despite distractions around her. I'm sure some of this tolerance is because these are mothers born in captivity who are used to people. But there are a few cases in which field researchers have been able to approach wild giant panda mothers in their dens. So, I don't think the behavior of captive mothers is extremely different from the behavior of wild mothers.
 
Our colleagues in Chengdu were the first ones to realize that people can take advantage of this behavior and use it to swap twins so that both cubs have a very good chance to survive. Before the swapping technique was first used in 1990 at the Chengdu Zoo, no captive born panda twins survived. One of the cubs always died within a few days.
 
Lun Lun's tolerance will not last. In a few weeks, she will start putting her cubs down and will gradually leave them for longer periods of time to eat. But if she hears a cub call, she will come back in a hurry and she will be aggressive if she thinks her cubs are being threatened. Lucky for us, we will be able to shift her into another den when she leaves a cub and make the swap quickly and quietly while she is away. It's great system and we are really fortunate to have the guidance of our colleagues in Chengdu to know how to do it in just the right way.
Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Mammals

Great pics, Lou!  Glad our juvies are doing so well!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9QMLYVqzy8#ws

Wednesday, July 17

Knowing that many, many people are waiting and watching on live camera, how nerve wracking is it to be the one to confirm that Lun Lun’s water had broken? Oh just slightly.  Luckily this year she made it pretty obvious and I felt very confident when I made that phone call, knowing that it would be the start of a very big night. I just didn’t realize how big! For every birth we prepare exactly the same as we have this year. The protocols get updated, the 24 hours shifts begin, the building’s daily activities get rearranged in preparation for the nursery set up, everything gets disinfected, and most importantly, the nursery gets set up. Zoo Atlanta’s Veterinary and Animal Management teams are always prepared for any scenario that might occur, and Monday evening was the best example of the exceptional preparation and detail that goes into planning a panda birth. We all sat in the control room watching Lun  Lun on the same video feed that many of you were watching. There were cheers all around when we saw the first cub arrive. Then we paused to begin our monitoring of mother and cub when we were as surprised as you! In Zoo Atlanta fashion, we were prepared. Our amazing team jumped into action and had everything we needed at our fingertips, thanks to our pre-prepared nursery.

Lun and the cubs are doing very well with the swapping. It is always calm for her and while we try to do it every few hours, it is only done when she provides an opportune moment. We make it positive for her by always giving her sugar cane and offering her water, bamboo, biscuits, and any treat she could want. Her favorite is the sugar cane, she never turns it down! Stay tuned for many more updates, and for more “insider information�, subscribe to our Cub Confidential emails. You won’t be disappointed!
Jenny
Keeper III, Carnivores


Confirmed that the twins are both males!