Atlanta Zoo Pandas

[jeanne]

Little Po really "got into" playing with a half barrel!

2011-07-01 Po Under the Half Barrel (1.25x speed)

[Annette]

a very cute video! 

[Kris G.]

I read about Po's barrel adventure on their blog Wed. but hadn't seen the video! Too funny!  Thanks for posting, Jeanne!

[MAK]

  What a character!  Thanks for sharing Jeanne! 

[annieinelkhart]

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!  If I hadn't just got up I would be rolling on the floor laughing!!       That is way tooo funny!  I was wondering what Mom's reaction would be if she caught sight of that moving barrel!  Glad the video showed her checking it out!  Thanks for sharing that.  Have had computer issues lately so not able to watch things like that much.  But that was worth it!!! 

[Donna]

That was the best!! That barrel went around the whole enclosure and gave the audience a good view! Loved it, thanks jeanne.

[Kris G.]

Friday, August 26
Lun Lun had a busy and fun-filled birthday yesterday (August 25)! When I arrived in the morning, she was still eating some of her overnight bamboo. She got a piece of sugarcane while she waited for me to set up her breakfast. After breakfast, she took a nap, and then it was time for her birthday cake. As Rebecca mentioned on Wednesday, we made her an ice cake with three layers. It was not an elaborate (or pretty) cake, but it was filled with some of Lun Lun’s favorite things. Before lunch, we set up the dayroom with the cake and some fresh bamboo. As is typical of our pandas, Lun Lun only sniffed the cake in passing and went straight for the bamboo and biscuits. After Lun Lun finished her bamboo, she investigated the cake further. She worked for a long time trying to get the sugar cane out of the ice, then gave up and took another nap (or tried to!). While she worked on her cake, Po noticed her activity and figured the cake must be safe if mom is playing with it. He joined her and went crazy for the cinnamon layer.  He rolled all over it and batted it around. He continued playing with the ice even after Lun Lun left to sleep. He got completely soaked and covered in mulch from rolling around with the cake. When Po tired of the ice cake, he wanted mom to play with him, but she just wanted to sleep. She tried several different napping spots, hoping Po would give up and leave her alone, but he did not. Eventually, she gave in and played with him. Once Po had calmed down, Lun Lun was able to enjoy her sugar cane in peace, but she never did get that second nap.
Heather Baker Roberts
 Carnivore Keeper II

Lun Lun's 14th birthday celebration!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV10ocp2700#

Wednesday, August 31
 Xi Lan had a really fun birthday yesterday! He loved all of the enrichment items we made for him.  He shredded his paper mache and bamboo “rattleâ€� immediately to retrieve the biscuits hidden inside. Then he ate some of the bamboo that made the rattle’s handle. Since eating is much more important than playing for a panda, Xi Lan climbed up into the structure and ripped open the large paper bag filled with hay and biscuits. After another bamboo snack, he was ready to play. He rolled all over the room with his ice cake, rubbing himself all over it, especially the Tabasco-scented tier. I guess he got some Tabasco on his fur because he continued the self-anointing behavior even when he was on the other side of the room from the ice cake. Finally, he ate the bamboo candles on top of the cake. After all that activity he was wiped out and took a long nap. However, he must have started the party up again long after I had gone for the day because he slept in late this morning and his dayroom was a wreck!
 Heather Baker Roberts
 Carnivore Keeper II

Xi Lan celebrates his 3rd birthday:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yFlDhYsqlU#

[MAK]

  That was fun! Thanks Kris!!

[Carol P.]

Love these videos Kris.  Especially the first one with Po playing.  Thank you for posting.   

[jeanne]

So adorable! Thank you, Kris!!!  Pandas are so cute!!!

[Donna]

YAY, a happy video!! Thanks

[Kris G.]

Thursday, September 22
 We recently received some surprising news from our colleagues at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding about Mei Lan, the first giant panda cub born at Zoo Atlanta. She is actually a he, and it seems that he was incorrectly sexed when he was a cub. Mei Lan has lived at the Chengdu Research Base since February 2010, and our colleagues there have noted the appearance of testes.
 
Giant pandas are normally sexed as infants during early health checks. This can be difficult to do correctly, and it helps to have some practice. Mei Lan was sexed during his first veterinary exam when he was 19 days old by a staff person from the Chengdu Research Base and Zoo Atlanta staff. This is later than would normally be done at the Chengdu Research Base, and it’s more difficult to do if the cub is more than a few days old. We waited longer to do Mei Lan’s first exam, because Lun Lun was a first-time mother and we didn’t want to do anything that might disrupt the excellent care she was providing for Mei Lan.
 
Close examination of the anogenital area is needed to determine the sex of a giant panda cub, and a male’s testes do not descend until he is over 3 years old. Prior to this, there is no obvious external cue to sex. As a result, young giant pandas are occasionally sexed incorrectly, which was apparently the case for Mei Lan. We plan to recheck the sex of our other young giant pandas, Xi Lan and Po, during their next scheduled physical exams.
 
Although it’s strange for us to think of Mei Lan as a male, the good news is that this does not change how he was cared for and managed while he was growing up here in Atlanta. We all recall that his birth on September 6, 2006, was a monumental event for Zoo Atlanta, the City of Atlanta, the Giant Panda Species Survival Plan, and thousands of you, his fans, from around the world. He was the only giant panda cub born in the U.S. in 2006, and there was nothing we would have done differently if we or the staff from the Chengdu Research Base had known sooner that he was a male. He still would have been transferred to the Chengdu Research Base when he was 3 years old, and he will still be an important part of the breeding population there. So while this news does come as a big surprise, we’ll all just work on getting used to the fact that Lun Lun’s and Yang Yang’s firstborn was a son, and that son may have a bit of an odd name (Mei Lan roughly translates to Atlanta’s Beauty) for a male. I don’t think he’ll mind. I’ll bet Lun Lun knew all along. Too bad we couldn’t just ask her!
 Rebecca Snyder, PhD
 Curator of Mammals

 

[Dumpsterkitty]

 Yikes! 

[Donna]

Yikes! 

DITTO!!! 

[carly]

I'm still in shock at this news.  Our sweet Lani bear is a boy....still adore her errr him but I guess I won't be expecting a cubbie next year after all now.  It will be a few years before 'he' is a dad.