Have a very  Aafke!   

COLTS!!!

I somehow think something got lost in translation.  While Tai Shan may not be a "rock star" anymore, the pandas are well taken care of and loved by their keepers.

OK...Found some pictures of Tai Shan's arrival with this comment on the article...

"as a chinese panda lover
I can say with certainty that this reporting is not accurate.
I know WuDaiFu and his colleague make great contribution to Pandas

I suggest that she should find a better interpreter
if it doesn't work
she needs to improving her understanding and writing skills"  

Photos here

Hua Mei photos here

And Mei Sheng photos here  Please note the birthday photos with fruitcicles.

And, just because, one of my favorites I took of Tai Shan just after his first birthday

Thanks for posting this. Knowing about the efforts for Panda conservation, it makes me feel better to know that the conditions are better there than what the article described.

This is very sad for both Mei Lan and Tai Shan.  Forced breeding, indoctrination, cramped quarters-sounds like a puppy mill. 

Please... 
"Puppy Mill" is a term coined by PETA and H$U$ minions, who use it to describe ANYone who breeds any animal.  Of course there are some substandard breeders, and they need to be stopped, but PM is an over worked and non-defined term, certainly not applicable to a Panda conservation program.
FORCED breeding?  Another term used by those who believe in the eventual elimination of all animals from humans' lives. 
Rather than condemning the Chinese program, we should be lauding it, as one of the REAL conservation efforts.
Thank you,
Carol
WV

I've been known to speak from my heart and not my head so don't beat yours over my comments.  The article was very upsetting to say the least.

This is very sad for both Mei Lan and Tai Shan.  Forced breeding, indoctrination, cramped quarters-sounds like a puppy mill. 

And She’s Off!
2-04-10


Zoo Atlanta’s Mei Lan departs for China

ATLANTA – February 4, 2010 – Mei Lan, a 3-year-old female giant panda from Zoo Atlanta, departed for China on February 4, 2010. Transportation for the world-famous bear was generously donated by FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX).

Zoo Volunteers and Docents lined the sidewalks of Cherokee Avenue for a parting glimpse as the FedEx truck transporting Mei Lan left Zoo Atlanta at 6:30 a.m. Her vehicle was escorted by an Atlanta Police motorcade on the trip to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Mei Lan’s aircraft, a custom-decaled FedEx Express 777F christened the FedEx Panda Express, was waiting at the airport for its precious cargo at 7:00 a.m. Officials loaded an enormous FedEx box packed with farewell cards signed by hundreds of fans as Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed; Mike Ducker, Chief Operating Officer, FedEx Express; former Zoo Atlanta President and CEO Dennis Kelly; and Ben De Costa, General Manager, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, delivered opening remarks. The jet received a ceremonial washdown salute before taking off at 8:15 a.m.

The FedEx Panda Express was en route to Washington’s Dulles International Airport to retrieve Mei Lan’s fellow passenger, 4-year-old male Tai Shan from Smithsonian’s National Zoo, for a nonstop flight to Chengdu, China. Mei Lan is accompanied by Zoo Atlanta Giant Panda Keeper Heather Roberts, who will spend the next 10 days with her at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

“This is a bittersweet moment for the Zoo Atlanta family and for fans around the world, but it’s a wonderful moment for giant pandas,� said Zoo Atlanta Curator of Mammals Dr. Rebecca Snyder. “We’re very proud to have shared Mei Lan’s life to the point where she can now begin making her own contributions to the world’s population of giant pandas.�

Thousands of local, national and international fans paid tribute to Zoo Atlanta’s firstborn giant panda cub during her last weeks in Atlanta, even braving a particularly cold and rainy Saturday to attend her Farewell Celebration on January 30. Following an exclusive raffle drawing offered during the celebration, Zoo Atlanta Docent Lynne LaVallee won the coveted opportunity to witness Mei Lan’s final exit from outside the giant panda building Thursday morning.

Mei Lan’s many admirers can find updated information about the pandas’ journey at news.fedex.com/pandas. As they become available, updates on Mei Lan’s progress in China will be posted on zooatlanta.org.






 

Tai Shan officially began his journey to China early this morning, leaving the Zoo at 9:04 a.m. The four-and-a-half-year-old panda is on his way to Dulles International Airport, where he will board a FedEx 777 plane bound for Chengdu. The non-stop flight will take about 14 hours. Over the years, Tai Shan has become a celebrity in Washington, and will now take on a new role in China as part of a panda breeding program at Wolong’s Bifengxia Panda Base in Ya’an, Sichuan.

Since his birth July 9, 2005, Tai Shan, whose name means “peaceful mountain,� has attracted millions of visitors worldwide to the National Zoo and to the Zoo’s panda cams. The Zoo successfully negotiated two extensions with the China Wildlife Conservation Association, which allowed the Zoo to keep Tai Shan for two and a half years beyond the original two-year contract.

“Tai Shan’s departure is bittersweet for his fans and the Zoo staff, as he has been a true ambassador for the giant panda species in the United States over the past four and a half years,� said Steven Monfort, the Zoo’s acting director. “Because we had the opportunity to keep him longer, our Chinese partners have allowed us to learn more about giant pandas by charting his growth and development. But the time has come to say goodbye, and we know Tai’s next phase will be to help save his species in China.�

Tai Shan is expected to depart from Dulles about noon today and is traveling in a steel crate that measures 77 1/2 inches long, 56 1/2 inches wide and 50 inches tall. He will have fruit (pears are his favorite), vegetables, biscuits and about 55 pounds of bamboo to keep him fed during his journey. Tai Shan will not be the only bear aboard the “FedEx Panda Express.� Zoo Atlanta’s three-year-old giant panda, Mei Lan, is joining him on her voyage to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Tai Shan will be accompanied by Zoo veterinarian Nancy Boedeker and keeper and trainer Nicole Meese.

FedEx has donated the transportation and logistical services to both the National Zoo and Zoo Atlanta. The “FedEx Panda Express,� with a panda decal on its fuselage, is a 777F aircraft designed to carry only the pandas and their human companions on the 8,600-mile flight.

“I am honored to be able to accompany Tai Shan to his new home in China,� Meese said. “Tai has touched so many people, not only those of us who are lucky enough to know and work with him personally but also those who watched him from a distance. We’ll all be looking forward to the day when Tai Shan becomes a father, ensuring another generation of pandas for all to enjoy.�

In the meantime, Zoo staff and volunteers will be monitoring its female panda—Tai Shan’s mother, Mei Xiang—for indications that she is pregnant. In January, a team of Zoo scientists and collaborators performed two flawless artificial inseminations, but it will take 90 to 185 days to determine whether she is carrying a cub. The contract for Mei Xiang and Tai Shan’s father, Tian Tian, expires in December and the Zoo will negotiate for an extension.

“We’re confident giant pandas will always reside at the National Zoo,� said Don Moore, the Zoo’s associate director of animal care sciences. “From Tai Shan, Smithsonian’s researchers learned valuable information about panda behavior, while his parents have taught us more about the reproductive process unique to pandas. We’re looking forward to continuing this vital research with our adult pandas and, fingers crossed, with another cub.�

The National Zoo is a recognized leader in the care and study of the giant panda. The Zoo has worked for decades to conserve this endangered species and intends to continue its commitment to giant panda research in situ and at the Zoo. About 1,600 giant pandas exist in the wild and nearly 300 live in zoos and research facilities in China and around the world

Video of departure:
http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/GiantPandas/TaiShan/departurevideo.cfm


 

I sure miss Marty's view of the world!   
Patricia (Florida)

Me, too.  She really added something.    

She sure did.

I miss her... 

Whatever took it was fast!!  ???

My time..... but thanks for the puzzle-I love doing them!

Look how close the Main Camera (aka Dead Pigeon Cam) is to the prey. It's nice to know that it can focus on objects that close to it. This will come in handy when curious eyases start exploring the platform.

I'm impressed and very pleased 

                   

I read about this yesterday but didn't know he had died-so sad...

[Hawks Find a Home in Wilds of New York]

Hawks Find a Home in Wilds of New York


(Jan. 29) -- The streets of Manhattan's Lower East Side will never be confused with a nature preserve. But neighborhood residents are buzzing over recent sightings of a majestic red-tailed hawk -- possibly the same one that hatched three eggs on a school air-conditioning unit two years ago.

"Last Sunday there were quite a few sightings," said Bill Tatton, a custodian at P.S. 188.

Tatton worked with professional photographer Francois Portmann to document the nesting, egg-laying, hatching and first flights of the three red-tailed hawk fledglings at the school on East Houston Street in 2008. They produced more than 120 photographs now on display .

Lola, the mate of famous red-tailed hawk Pale Male, perches on a tree in New York's Central Park after her nest was removed from a building in December, 2004. Birds lovers are encouraged by sightings of more hawks in the city lately."It's that time of year," added Tatton, a Bronx native who moonlights as a musician. "Time for them to be looking for a place to make their nest."

The school, wedged into a long file of housing projects along the East River, may seem to be an unlikely place for hawks to nest. Yet hawks and other birds of prey are no strangers to the neighborhood -- or the city at large. For years, the red-tailed hawks Pale Male and Lola made worldwide news as they nested on a pricey Fifth Avenue co-op uptown and dazzled visitors to nearby Central Park.

"It wouldn't be surprising if the female came back to the Lower East Side, especially if she had chicks there before," said Sarah Aucoin, director of the city's Urban Park Rangers. She estimated there are hundreds of hawks in the city on a given day, some passing through, others setting up permanent residence. The city, she noted, is also home to coyotes, wild turkeys, bald eagles, peregrine falcons and beavers.

Down on the Lower East Side, things tend to be a bit more raw than they are on upper Fifth Avenue. Just ask Miguel Cano, who supervises El Jardin del Paraiso, one of the neighborhood's many community gardens. Cano has watched hawks and falcons make meals out of the garden's animal populace, including chickens, ducks and bunnies. It's no mystery to him why red-tailed hawks are also known as "chicken hawks."

"Kids come from the school next door and the neighborhood to feed the bunnies and chickens," Cano said. "These are my pets. But the hawk wants to eat. Hey, we all gotta survive."

But city prey can be dangerous for the hawks, too. Three of P.S. 188's baby hawks became ill from eating pigeons infected with parasites back in 2008. Bobby Horvath, a city firefighter who also runs Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation out of his home on Long Island, helped nurse one back to health. Its two siblings died. The father was later found sick and near death at a construction site on the nearby FDR Drive.

Which makes Tatton, the school custodian, all the more thrilled that the mother may be back in the neighborhood. "We're hoping that's her," he said. "It's time for her to make a try at another family."

Bill Morris -contributor

Panda Cub Updates

Friday, January 29
It's finally official. Mei Lan, our 3-year-old female panda, will soon be on her way to China. It was announced yesterday that she will be traveling to China compliments of FedEx Express.  Her departure date has been set for Thursday, February 4th.  She will not, however, be undertaking this journey alone.  We have a Zoo Atlanta keeper going with her and she will also be accompanied by Tai Shan, the National Zoo's 4-year-old male. They both get to fly first class on a brand new Boeing 777, which will be decorated with appropriate panda markings.  We are all going to miss our Atlanta Beauty, but we are excited that she will be moving on to big things in Chengdu, where she will become part of the giant panda breeding program at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

In other panda news, the vet staff and I were able to get a good look at Xi Lan's teeth today. It appears that he is on a roll, and has several baby teeth that are about ready to come out. Aside from that, he appears to be in tip top shape. His weight this morning was 34.6 kg. It's hard to believe that he is over 75 lbs, but I guess they can't stay little forever.

Be sure to join us tomorrow, Saturday, January 30, for Mei Lan’s Farewell Celebration!
Kenn Harwood
Lead Keeper of Carnivores

Living in WNY (western NY), we're used to it!