Bifengxia Panda Base took delivery of three new incubators from Pandas International on 13 May 2013 (what a lovely date).

Each incubator comes with a bedsheet.

When I saw the bedsheet, I was reminded of the familiar one I’ve photographed over the years.

September 2007 (Wolong Panda Centre)

August 2008 (Bifengxia Panda Base)

September 2010 (Bifengxia Panda Base)

September 2012 (Bifengxia Panda Base)

There is no incubator photo for 2009 as I’d visited in May that year when the nursery was closed (no cubbies until after July), and for some reason, no incubator photo/s for 2011 even though I’d visited in August and September that year.

I look forward to seeing the 2013 cubbies resting on the new blue bedsheets.

I went away to Emeishan to visit giant pandas Zhen Zhen, Ge Ge and Min Min for four days and returned to Bifengxia to find some giant pandas have been sent out on loan to various zoos or parks around China, and two keeper friends sent to accompany them on their flights and look after them there.

I knew about one of the transfers, but not the other one. This is the transfer I knew about, but the “breeder” shown on the fourth page is not her.

Panda house opens in NE China

There were two other panda transfers during this same trip and all have been completed while I am still here.

Place
Dalian

Pandas (from Bifengxia Panda Base)
Jin Hu (born 2010)
Fei Yun (born 2010)
Cai Zhen (born 2010)

—–

Place
Nanyang City, Henan Province

Panda (from Shanghai Zoo, previous place of loan)
Peng Peng (born 1999)

—–

Place
Hangzhou

Pandas (from Bifengxia Panda Base)
Li Li (born 2005)
Shan Hu (born 2010)
Hu Xiao (born 2010)

Note
Li Li and Shan Hu are siblings; their mother is Gong Zhu, my adopted panda

—–

Place
Nanjing

Pandas (from Bifengxia Panda Base)
Qing Shan (born 2010)
Zhao Yang (born 2010)

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Related Post
Three panda cubs moved from Bifengxia to Dalian

Sad news from The National Zoo, Washington, DC:
The giant panda cub born to Mei Xiang on 16 September 2012 has died.

From the Smithsonian National Zoological Park’s website:

“SEPTEMBER 23
We are brokenhearted to share that we have lost our little giant panda cub. Panda keepers and volunteers heard Mei Xiang make a distress vocalization at 9:17 a.m. and let the veterinarian staff know immediately. They turned off the panda cam and were able to safely retrieve the cub for an evaluation at 10:22 a.m., which we only do in situations of gravest concern. The veterinarians immediately performed CPR and other life-saving measures, but sadly the cub was unresponsive. We’ll have more updates as we learn more, but right now we know is that the cub weighed just under 100 grams and that there was no outward sign of trauma or infection. We’ll share information with you as we learn more.”

Amidst the various articles resulting from the official announcement was this reflection on the cub’s death:

Remembering a panda cub we barely knew

And in the piece, this paragraph stood out:

One detail was especially sorrowful: It was Mei Xiang’s “distress vocalization” that prompted keepers to check on the newborn. She knew something was wrong.

The three cubs moved to Dalian are:

Jin Hu (male)
DOB 8 July 2010
Mother Zhu Yun

Fei Yun (female)
DOB 30 July 2010
Mother Fei Fei

Cai Zhen (female)
DOB 9 August 2010
Mother Ge Ge

Source:
National Treasure has come to Dalian!