Atlanta Zoo Pandas

[Annette]

So cute! 

[carly]

ZA Facebook Update:

Lun Lun was worn out yesterday. She left the nest box and laid down in the adjacent den to rest. After a few minutes, it was obvious that she fell fast asleep. So, we put both cubs in the incubator and let her rest. Taking care of two cubs is very taxing for her. I’m glad she got a much-needed nap last night. -

Heather Roberts, Keeper III

[carla]

Sweeties   thanks for posting.........

[carly]

Tuesday, August 13

The cub swaps have been going really well since the twins were a few days old, but they have become even better lately. Lun Lun now regularly shifts away from the cub she has. While she is away, the door between the dens is closed. We enter the den that contains the nest box to remove one cub and place the other cub in the nest box. Then the door between the dens is opened. When Lun Lun is finished eating in the adjacent den, she goes straight to the nest box to pick up the cub. We are still doing the swaps approximately every four hours.

Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Mammals

[carly]

Panda Updates
Wednesday, August 14

Now that the cubs are a month old, everyone is taking a small breath. The cubs are still quite vulnerable and fragile, but they’ve passed the 1 kilogram mark so we’re all very happy. Staffing has shifted a bit as well! Deng Tao used to work during the day, helping to care for the cubs and sharing his vast knowledge of cub rearing. While he slept in the den adjacent to Lun’s nesting den, the overnight crew consisted of a vet and a nursery keeper. Now that the cubs are a month old, Deng and the vets have swapped shifts: Deng now works overnight while a vet is here during the day. Even better is that Deng now feels comfortable enough to sleep outside the building! This new arrangement is very beneficial a our vet staff now have more time to take care of the other more than 1,500 critters here at Zoo Atlanta. The cubs and Lun are clueless, obviously. They are still getting round-the-clock care and attention so their world hasn’t changed one bit.

Jen W.
Keeper I, Carnivores

[carly]

What do 1-month-old panda sleepyheads dream about? Mommy? Eating? Mommy? Eating? Mommy and Eating? Thanks to Keeper Jen Webb for a photo we like to call "Portrait of an Untroubled Life" -- Cub B. snoozing while Cub A. takes his turn with Mom.

[carly]

Thursday, August 15
Heather weighed Lun Lun today for the first time since the twins were born. Lun Lun weighed 108 kg. This was surprising to Heather and me. We expected her to weigh about 100 kg. That is the weight we normally try to have Lun Lun maintain. As we have been reporting for weeks, she hasn’t been eating much since the last three weeks of her pregnancy. She did look thin the week after the cubs were born. But her appetite has picked up and she has been eating better. So, I expected that she would have regained the weight she lost and be close to her normal weight of 100 kg. Boy, was I wrong. She’s a bit heavier than we normally allow. I’m actually quite happy about that, though. It’s great that she is above her normal weight while nursing twins. It’s an indication that she is keeping up well with the cubs’ demand for milk. We increased her diet when she had her previous cubs and allowed her weight to increase. We have increased even more this time, because of the twins. It seems to be working!

Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Mammals

[carly]

You may have noticed in most of the photos of the cubs in the incubator, they are resting their heads on a “pillow�. This pillow is really a small bean bag and both cubs seem to like using it. If we are close to a swap time and the cub is hungry, it may take a couple of tries to calm them, but the bean bag seems to do the trick every time!

Heather Roberts, Keeper III

[Kris G.]

From Zoo Atlanta FB page:

I spy with my little eye … another little eye getting ready to open! Now 35 days old, the cubs are entering the timeframe where we’ll start seeing those black-and-white peepers beginning to open.

   

[Kris G.]

Cub Confidential!

http://us7.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d9031a7794b0f73577cc878c5&id=742de8aa81&e=e4eff45b1e

             

[Kris G.]

5 weeks old!

http://youtu.be/7Z9IEy8j1eM

[Annette]

Lovely video!

[Kris G.]

Cub Confidential update!

http://us7.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d9031a7794b0f73577cc878c5&id=21951bd556&e=c26951a69b

[Kris G.]

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2013/08/30/newday-dnt-machado-baby-panda-twins-atlanta-zoo.cnn.html   

[Kris G.]

Cub Confidential update!

http://us7.campaign-archive2.com/?u=d9031a7794b0f73577cc878c5&id=d63ab98c5f&e=c26951a69b