Panda house open in NE China

Filed in News, Stress Busters

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)

=====

Related Post
Three panda cubs moved from Bifengxia to Dalian

“Remembering a panda cub we barely knew”

Filed in News, Stress Busters

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.

Three panda cubs moved from Bifengxia to Dalian

Filed in News, Stress Busters

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!

Coming to Malaysia

Filed in Stress Busters

Fu Wa, male panda

Feng Yi, female panda

Their new home – Taman Wetland*, Putrajaya, Malaysia


*somewhere among the green patches on the map

Expected Arrival

Not so soon …

At the nursery in Bifengxia Panda Base

Filed in General, Stress Busters

One of Xi Mei’s cubs

Xi Mei gave birth to twins, male (older) and female (younger), at Bifengxia Panda Base on 11 July 2012. As she cannot care for both at the same time, one of them was taken to be raised in the nursery at birth while the other remained with her, but they are swapped every few days so they can each spend time with her.

At 2 months old, her cubs have outgrown the incubator and now sleep in a wicker basket in the nursery.

One of Long Xin’s cubs

Long Xin gave birth to twins, both girls, at Old Wolong on 28 July 2012. One of them was later brought back to Bifengxia Panda Base and is currently in an incubator in the nursery there. At almost 7 weeks old, the cub is strong enough to lift her head and look around her.

One of Si Xue’s cubs

Si Xue gave birth to twins at Old Wolong on 15 August 2012. One of them was later brought back to Bifengxia Panda Base and is currently in an incubator in the nursery there.

Born in 2006, Si Xue is also the first from that year to become a mother.