Whenever I checked today no cam

& not on Earthcam

9/9/11~Yang Yang's Birthday~7.07 min. <Video link

~He had a gr8 time playing with his ice-cake & tobasco-scented, straw, treat bag! He treated cake like a soccer ball running with it~rubbed it all over his head~kicked & pitched & somersaulted over it, etc. He is still so playful at big 14 & still cool Daddy! Happy Birthday sweet Yang!





Bob Cleo's Lan 3rd Birthday Video < Video Link
At the Zoo!

http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/its-a-h ... 86658.html

The Atlanta Journal Constitution is reporting that our Lani is, gulp, a boy!!! Helene found this out.

ETA:
Zoo Atlanta has confirmed that Mei Lan is a male.
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

I got the message on FB. Thought it was SO funny. haha He's a cutie no matter what sex he is.

HI Neets! I agree. I was momentarily stunned, though, I have to admit. He was always such a princess to us. Boy, THAT doesn't sound right.

I have to say - Yang Yang seems to be struttin' a bit more today!

Hi Neets & Lonette~I just saw that too, looking for updates~what a big surprise after thinking of her as a girl for so long he still had the prettiest cubbie face & is our wonderful boy {& we were looking forward to her cubbies}~
so glad Hélène has seen it
Right, Lonette 'cause, Yang is the Big Daddy of "My Three Sons" now

Panda Cub Updates

Friday, September 23

For the past several months, we have been working with Po on some basic training behaviors. The most important of these is “shift.” He quickly learned that “shift” means to move through an open door, mainly by following his mother. However, just because he understands what we are asking of him does not mean he will do it. As a younger cub, he shifted quickly and very willingly because he wanted to stay with Lun Lun. As he has gotten older, he prefers to do his own thing. Currently, he likes to stay curled up on the structure, even when it is time to come inside. For a while, Lun Lun would help us out by bringing him inside with her when we asked her to. Now, Po is starting to resist her “requests” for him to go with her. This is normal behavior for a young giant panda cub. At this age in the wild, a cub would climb a tree for safety while mother is out foraging. We are working to make inside a desirable place for Po to be and rewarding him heavily for coming inside, but for now, he continues to prefer the climbing structure.
Heather Baker Roberts
Carnivore Keeper II

Monday, September 19

Over the past week, Zoo Atlanta and the Georgia Aquarium co-hosted the national Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) conference. This is the largest annual event in the zoological industry, bringing together hundreds of "zoo people" to coordinate the many national zoo programs, listen to and discuss lectures, exchange ideas, find out about new products, and of course, network. On the last day of the weeklong event, Zoo Atlanta hosted "Zoo Day.” This was our opportunity to show off our zoo to all of our professional colleagues. After the day at the Zoo, we hosted an evening party for the conference participants. From all the feedback that I heard from everyone, they were all quite impressed with the Zoo. Even though we had our extremely cute tiger cubs on exhibit, Po still stole the show. Everyone was talking about him. Po showed off for everyone during the day by playing much of the day away. As babies normally get, he did end up napping much of the late afternoon away. Whatever he was doing, people didn't care. They were still thrilled to see him.
Kenn Harwood
Lead Keeper of Carnivores

Panda Cub Updates

Friday, October 7
We continue to make progress with training Po to shift on command. He is much more likely to follow his mom and try and steal as many biscuits as possible. t's comical to watch Po and Lun Lun fight over the delicious red leafeater biscuits and fruit … I'll let you figure out who usually wins! I was actually able to do a training session with Lun Lun, during which we worked on maintenance behaviors. These trained behaviors enable us to perform visual checks on all the adult pandas while safely being on the other side of the mesh. During the training session, Heather kept Po occupied with treats as he was watching his mom from nearby - I thought that was pretty cool!
Jen Webb
Keeper I, Carnivores

Wednesday, October 5
Hi all! What wonderful weather we are enjoying. The pandas are especially enjoying it! We have had Po and Lun Lun out in Habitat 1 for the last few days and I think they have really liked it. I filled up the pool and was hoping that it would stay crystal clear, but Po had different thoughts about it. I watched him and his mom walk in and splash around. Then I watched Po roll around in the dirt, and so yesterday afternoon Po was black and brown. He cleaned up a little overnight and as soon as I put them out this morning he went straight to the pool. He didn't climb in today even though several times he reached out to touch the water. Today's adventures were full of exploring all the vegetation in the yard. I think he tried to taste everything at least once today until he finally settled down underneath the structure for a long nap.
Sheena Braman
Keeper 1, Mammals

Monday, October 3
Wow! What an amazing day in Panda Land. Saturday night we had some guests participate in our Giant Panda Deluxe NightCrawler program. Besides learning about giant pandas, especially our cute four, they made an amazing enrichment item for Lun Lun and Yang Yang. Using two cardboard boxes, one super long paper towel roll and some paint, they created the cutest fake pandas. Sunday morning, I set the painted box pandas in the day rooms and placed scents all over the different parts of the boxes and filled the insides with hay and treats. We weren't sure if the pandas would even play with these weird toys, but they did not dissapoint. Yang Yang was the first to see his and he went crazy ripping it apart and trying to find all the treats. At one point he had the box completely ripped open and it was sitting on his head while he finished off some of the treats. Lun Lun was a little more delicate with her fake panda friend. She went up to it and swatted the head off and then searched for treats throwing hay everywhere. It was a pretty silly sight. Po was curious about the "panda,” but decided the best spot to observe this new guy was from the top of his hammock. He was very interested in the strong smells coming from the box and we could see his little nose sniffing the air. However, he didn't have enough courage to come down and investigate further. We didn't leave Xi Lan out of the mix; we gave him a hay pile in Habitat 2 full of scents and his favorite sugar cane. Because Lun Lun was so delicate with her panda box, we were able to pull it out and reassemble it...sorta; and we gave it to Xi Lan to finish it off. They loved it! I can't wait to see how the pandas react to their paper mache counterparts on enrichment day.
Sheena Braman
Keeper 1, Mammals

cont. »

Friday, September 30
I've gotten a lot of questions lately about the weights of the pandas, and so I thought I'd update the blog as well! First off, the adults' weights fluctuate throughout the day, usually around 10lbs, because of all the bamboo they consume. Po's weight does not fluctuate that much because he still mainly nurses and steals the occasional leafeater biscuit or banana piece. He isn't really eating bamboo, yet. That being said, Yang Yang is averaging a whoppin' 290lbs, Lun Lun around 235lbs, Xi Lan is still growing and currently weighs around 180lbs...and that leaves little Po, who just broke 21kg (~46lbs).
Jen Webb
Keeper I, Carnivores

Wednesday, September 29
Last week I had the opportunity to work with the giant pandas for most of the day, not just observe them during data collection. I hadn’t worked routine the panda building for a while, so it was great to get back to it. The thing that always strikes me when I work panda routine is how different it is from other routines. In some ways, all routines are similar, because they involve cleaning, feeding, training and providing enrichment. But unlike some of the other animals, the pandas seem to dictate other details of the day. The meerkats, for example, don’t complain much about their food. They’re happy to get it and seem to love their diet. The pandas, however, as you’ve heard many times before, are not always appreciative of what they’ve been provided. And they let you know. Last week, though, things were really smooth. Sheena and I had lots of eating and sleeping pandas and they seemed pretty happy with our performance. As a part of my day, I also got to pay a couple of visits to Shandy the red panda and Marvin the muntjac. Although Shandy wasn’t too interested in seeing me, Marvin met me right at the door of his enclosure, ready for his bananas. No complaints from Marvin, or from me.
Megan Wilson, Ph.D.
Assistant Curator of Mammals

Monday, September 26
In just a few short days, Po has definitely caught on that there are some pretty awesome perks - in the form of bananas and leafeater biscuits - that always appear when he shifts inside into one of the off-exhibit dens. I have noticed that when he does shift, he readily comes up to the mesh looking for a treat. However, if he's snoozing on a structure, that cub ain't comin' down for nothin'! He has fairly predictable times when we feel confident that he'll be awake - early morning, right before lunch, and then usually around 3:30 in the afternoon. We've been targeting these times to try shift training with him since we know he's most likely to come inside. Now we’ve just gotta figure out how to convince a panda cub that snoozing on the structure isn't as fun as coming inside can be. Every cub has been different and I'm sure we'll find out what works best with little Po!
Jen Webb
Keeper 1, Carnivores