Posted on 22 October 2008 @ 16:17 in Stress Busters
It’s exactly a week since Mei Mei, the adult female giant panda at Adventure World in Japan, passed away. Her death was mourned by panda lovers all over the world; many were shocked by what they felt was an untimely death, as she was only 14 (the equivalent of 56 human years).
Only a month before her death, panda lovers celebrated the birth of her grandcubbies by her daughter, Rauhin, who also lives in Adventure World.
Mei Mei herself had 10 cubs in her short 14 years. Besides Rauhin, there were 2 older cubs born in Chengdu, China before moving to Japan. Rauhin, the eldest of her Japan born cubs, was followed by 7 others, including her last pair born in December 2006.
Many of our cherished images of Mei Mei show her playing with her cubs. Among all panda mothers, she holds a special position for being the only one who could look after both cubs in all her twin births without the help of her keepers.
Birth and death - the circle of life that we humans experience, too. Panda lives may not mean much to most people beyond the “oo’s” and “aa’s” when they see a picture of a cute cubbie, but they mean the world to those of us who have chosen to let these black and white furballs into our hearts. Their circle of life often parallel ours and impact us in the same way. We celebrate their births and mourn their deaths as if they are beloved members of our own families. Which, in a way, they are.
Earlier this year in July, we mourned the death of Shi Shi, a venerable old gentleman bear who’d fathered Hua Mei. Shi Shi was in his 30s and was retired and living out his twilight years in Guangzhou Zoo, China. His time had come and we said goodbye to him.
It was different in Mei Mei’s case. Many of us felt she died too soon. As we were to learn, she had been ill, and although she was thought to have recovered, she had a relapse from which she did not survive.
We mourn Mei Mei, but we also thank her for having left us 10 beautiful cubs.
Mei Mei (giant panda)
31 August 1994 - 15 October 2008 |
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External Link:
Panda Family, Adventure World, Japan
(edited on Friday, 24 October 2008 at 17:07 to add the following)
We’ve also mourned the untimely loss of Mao Mao in the May 12 earthquake, which I completely forgot in my original post.
While Shi Shi died from old age and Mei Mei through ill health, Mao Mao’s death was untimely. Three beloved bears, three different ways they left us.
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Posted on 18 September 2008 @ 16:22 in Stress Busters, Travels
I wrote an article for the Pandas International newsletter, about my recent volunteer trip to the Bifengxia Panda Base.
Full story here
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Posted on 16 September 2008 @ 09:05 in News, Stress Busters
One of the worries coming out of the May 12 earthquake was the possibility that panda births would be down this year. But to many people’s surprise, this has not been the case. In fact, since July 2008, there have been 14 cubbies born in Bifengxia!
Guo Guo - twins on 6 July
Ying Ying - single cub on 13 July
Long Xin - twins on 21 July
Bai Xue - twins on 26 July
Cao Cao - twins on 6 August
Fei Fei - single cub on 8 August
Zhang Ka - single cub on 26 August
Zhu Yun - twins on 3 September
Ye Ye - single cub on 14 September
Probably the most special birth is Fei Fei’s cub born on the first day of the 2008 Olympic Games.
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Posted on 23 August 2008 @ 09:57 in Stress Busters, Travels
She turns 2 today, and remains as feisty as ever.
She is Feng Yi, the giant panda cub I adopted in 2006. I’d named her Yoong Ping for my parents and also in memory of my niece, but have grown used to calling her by her official name.
Feng Yi.
I first met her last year when I went to Wolong, and she’d kept walking away from me. This year, she didn’t; she couldn’t as she was behind “bars” (to the animal activists reading this, if there are any - don’t get upset, it’s not cruel bars she was behind).
Last year, I visited her after she turned 1. This year, I visited her at the Beijing Zoo before she turned 2. I hope I will get to visit her on her birthday one of these days.
Judy, a fellow panda lover, asked if I’d asked her keepers at Beijing Zoo to give her something on her birthday. I hadn’t. But as I told her, we don’t need to do something for the ones we love - what matters is the heart, that we love them. And we can do something for them at other times of the year.
I did get to feed her during the visit. While in Bifengxia, I’d mentioned I’d be going onto Beijing and Cindy from the admin offices kindly called Wu Daifu, the head keeper, to tell him of my visit, and he’d said for me to contact him. So, as “mother” of one of the 8 Olympic pandas currently in Beijing as part of the Olympic attractions, I was honoured with a visit to the keepers’ quarters, to view the 8 pandas from a privileged vantage point, to watch Feng Yi in her training, and to feed her, too.
You can say my feeding her was our birthday present to each other this year.
She remains as feisty as ever.
There were 2 of them in training that day - her and Huan Huan. She went first, after which, they switched places, and she went into the enclosure next door. But she was restless. She knew what was going on in the next enclosure, and more importantly, what was available there - food! So she paced the enclosure and scratched the door, and even climbed on Duo Duo, who happened to be in the same enclosure with her.
Happy Birthday, Feng Yi.
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Posted on 22 August 2008 @ 08:18 in Stress Busters, Travels
Well, it’s exactly a week since I came home from my excellent panda adventure. (A week ago this time, I was in Beijing, getting my luggage together to wait for my taxi to the airport.)
Apart from posting a video on 16 August, I haven’t updated my blog. In fact, I haven’t done much writing, and the AlphaSmart Neo is still in its neoprene case since arriving home.
What is wrong with me?
Actually, I’ve been ill - cold and sore throat, plus I stubbed my little right toe on the corner of a door in my sister’s house, which turned a sickly green 24 hours later - so I haven’t felt up to doing much.
I have managed to miss two birthdays so far, and if I persist in this state, will miss a third birthday.
The two birthdays were Mei Sheng’s on 19 August, and his half-sister Hua Mei’s on 21 August. They turned 5 and 9 respectively.
I saw them both during the Bifengxia part of my excellent panda adventure. Here are 2 pictures.
Mei Sheng in his favourite spot up in the trees:
Hua Mei, with wowotou in one paw and apple slice in the other:
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