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Friday, July 6
Mei Lan must have had a good night last night. This morning she was a bundle of energy, which made her hard to control and to get her attention. All she wanted to do was to rear-up up on her hind legs then come down onto the mesh where I was standing. Lots of restraint was required just not to get in there and play with her. She also had a little jumping fest. She decided, after she was weighed, that she was going to leap off the scale onto the ground and attack bamboo, then walk back to the scale and do it all over again.  She must have done it five or six times. Of course all of this made it hard to get her out in the morning, when Lun Lun was more interested in her bamboo on exhibit. After realizing that she, Mei, was not going to get any attention from me, she decided to head out, because maybe mom will.
Joseph T. Svoke
Giant Panda Keeper II

Thursday, July 5
Well, during the day of the 4th, things were quiet on the fireworks front. I never heard any of the early celebrations that we have heard in past years. Since we are not here at night- no telling what the reaction was of the bears during any nighttime fireworks. But, all were fine this morning. 

This past week Yang Yang and Lun Lun have decided that the bamboo selections are not quite up to par by their standards. They both had been eating Arrow quite well and sampling some of the Henon. But the Arrow that was cut this week has not been a favorite. This is when we pull out some of our keeper tricks to encourage them to eat until we can find something that they like better. One way we get them to eat bamboo (when it is not to their liking) is to offer them one or two of the leaf eater biscuits and then ask them to eat a bite of bamboo. It seems that the biscuits get stuck in their teeth, so they are more willing to eat a bamboo species they don’t like to clean the biscuit out of their teeth. Then we offer two more biscuits, and they eat more bamboo. We continue this until they are done with their biscuit feeding, and before you know it, they have eaten a good amount of bamboo that they were not willing to eat on their own.
Kate Roca
Carnivore Keeper II

Wednesday, July 4
Happy Fourth of July!
(or as I have come to view it, happy huge-summer-action-blockbuster-movie-release-day)

Being Canadian, I also recognized July 1st as Canada Day, or our equivalent of the Fourth. It always amazes me how patriotic people are here in the U.S., and how willing to enjoy the day and get out with other folks people are. The zoo was packed this morning with visitors eager to take advantage of the great weather, and share the day with friends, family, and other zoo fans. Zoo Atlanta was even open a little later today for everyone to take advantage of the holiday, and as an added bonus Pandacam was also up.

And it seems the bears were up to the task of entertaining today. Yang Yang was outside playing with his enrichment barrel and putting on a show, while at the same time, mom and baby panda were chasing, wrestling and tackling each other and various toys in the dayrooms. Never a dull day.

And here's something fun to leave you with. The weights this morning of our three pandas were: Yang Yang at 138.5 kg (305 lbs); Lun Lun was 118 kg (260 lbs); and Mei Lan is a whopping 20.5 kg (45 lbs).

SO, today only, 1 mom + 1 baby = 1 daddy.
Enjoy!
Jay Pratte
Giant Panda Keeper III

Tuesday, July 3
How did it end up being July already? I'm sure it was just last week that Mei Lan had her six month birthday, and JT was still in China, and it wasn't in the nineties every day. I think that in all of the craziness that PandaLand has been through, I have clearly just lost track of the seasons. I mean, our Atlanta Beauty will be TEN MONTHS OLD on Friday...

I'm now waiting for the day when she actually eats something solid. We're approaching that window. She munches on the odd biscuit piece, and she likes little chunks of banana, but so far I could not tell you if she is actually ingesting any of the other stuff she crams in her face. Like this morning. Despite Lun Lun's best efforts, Mei Lan spent, like, an hour in the moat. I watched on camera as she merrily acted like she was eating the plants/weeds growing down there, but I have no idea if she was. She chews on mom's bamboo, and other odds and ends, but as for actually eating it? No idea. I guess more time will tell, providing I don't lose track of it like the past few months...
Jay Pratte
Giant Panda Keeper III

Mei goes vertical!

Monday, July 2
Zoo Atlanta is surrounded by a residential area and every year we hear the sounds of fireworks on the 4th of July. This year, the celebration is starting a little early. Today while collecting data on Lun Lun and Mei Lan I heard some fireworks go off near the zoo. Mei Lan also heard them. She was asleep in her favorite place on the climbing structure in the outdoor habitat and she woke up and started to look around. Lun Lun did not seem to even notice, as I am sure her and Yang Yang are used to the sound. It will be interesting to see Mei Lan’s reaction on the 4th of July when we hear a lot more sounds of fireworks.
Kate Roca
Carnivore Keeper II

Sunday, July 1
Well, the day finally came. Yesterday, Mei Lan decided to venture into the moat of the outdoor habitat. Lun Lun was not keen with this idea and kept removing her from the moat- which is not an easy task for her to do- seeing as Mei Lan now weighs 45 lbs. I was reminded of when Mei Lan first learned to climb and Lun Lun would go over and bring her back to the ground. In time, Lun Lun will become more comfortable with Mei Lan being down in the moat and let her stay there to explore and play.
Kate Roca
Carnivore Keeper II

Saturday, June 30
Not much to report on the pandas today. So far it has been a day of sleeping. I really don't think that it is fair that they get to sleep all they want and I have to be awake. Wouldn't it be nice if you could just go to sleep at anytime that you wanted to, and not have to worry about anything? That would be the life if you asked me. But, there needs to be someone there to take care of the pandas and to feed them.

About the only news that I have caught wind of, is the that the base in Chengdu had their first baby panda born this morning. The mother, Bing Bing, happens to be Lun Lun's mom also. So, Lun has a new sister and Mei Lan has a new aunt. I was told that at the age of 21, Bing Bing is the oldest female to give birth in captivity. She went into estrous right before I arrived in Chengdu to collect data for the research project. This put her "gestation" around five months, which is normal for a female giant panda. I am sure that mom and baby are doing well. The keepers are doing all that they can to assure the well-being of the cub.
Joseph T. Svoke
Giant Panda Keeper II

Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Carnivores

Friday, June 29
Well, I clearly did something right. I have absolutely no idea what it was, but I did it right. Bonnie and I introduced Lun Lun to the large, six-light test box yesterday. This was the first time Lun had seen the apparatus, and we expected her to be confused, or frustrated, or any number of less than positive responses, since suddenly we upped her expectations from the little two-button prototype box. Lun Lun took a few tries to figure out what was what, and then started orienting and responding to the lights like she'd been doing this for weeks. We normally do fifteen trials, and a passing score at the early level is 8 out of 15 correct responses. Lun Lun's first time seeing the box, which should have been just a trial to see if she WOULD interact, ended up with us actually testing her, and Lun scoring 9/15, a passing grade. We're excited that this bodes well for the rest of the study, and the introduction of the recall delays.
Jay Pratte
Giant Panda Keeper III

Thursday, June 28
Mei Lan continues to steadily put on weight. She weighed 20 kg (44 lbs) this morning.
Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Carnivores

Tackling a bamboo stalk...

Wednesday, June 27
We have started to think ahead to next year when Mei Lan will be weaned from Lun Lun. When that occurs we will need to start housing all three giant pandas separately from each other. Luckily, in addition to the two outdoor habitats that are on public exhibit, we have a large off exhibit outdoor habitat that we can use. So, all three giant pandas will have adequate outdoor space. We have rarely used the off exhibit habitat. It was built partly in case we had a cub and needed extra space and partly so that we could house the giant pandas off exhibit in case they were bothered by visitors. Yang Yang and Lun Lun never seemed to be bothered by being on exhibit, which isn’t too surprising given that they’ve been on exhibit since they were a few months old. This week we started some modifications to the off exhibit habitat in preparation for next year.
Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Carnivores

Tuesday, June 26
As mentioned in previous updates, we collect data on Lun Lun for a study of maternal behavior and Mei Lan for a study of behavioral development. We also collect behavioral data a few times a week on Yang Yang. Those data are especially important during the spring breeding season, because we are interested in how early rearing experience affects breeding season behavior and Yang Yang is an important subject in that study. Behavioral data collected on him at other times in the year helps us to make management decisions for him. I thought you might be interested in how he spent most of his time recently. Last week he spent 40% of his time feeding on bamboo, 35% of his time resting, 5% of his time walking, and the remainder of his time was spent on other activities (e.g., feeding on biscuits or fruit, smelling, exploring objects, etc.). Like most giant pandas, Yang Yang tends to spend about half of his time eating and the other half resting.
Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Carnivores

	Climbing in the HOTlanta heat!

Monday, June 25
As you may have read in updates from last week, Mei Lan has been keeping everyone on their toes with her somewhat uncooperative behavior lately. Yesterday, she decided to stay outside most of the day and made us worry that she might overheat. She and Lun Lun have access to the air conditioned dayrooms by mid-morning and usually come inside by late morning or noon. Yesterday, Mei Lan stayed outside until almost 2:00 p.m. Lun Lun went out to check on her a few times, but Mei Lan didn’t follow her mom inside. Just about the time that JT decided he might have to intervene and bring Mei Lan inside, she decided to come in on her own. She spent the rest of the day enjoying the air conditioning, oblivious to the fact that she caused anyone to worry about her.
Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Carnivores

One stubborn cub

Sunday, June 24
Over the last two mornings, getting Mei Lan outside has become a constant struggle.  She has decided that playing inside with either bamboo or her mom's food bowl is much more exciting then following Lun Lun outside.  Lun Lun has not noticed Mei Lan’s disappearance from outside much, and initially seems to be concerned about her morning eating of bamboo.  In fact, this morning no matter what I attempted to do to get Mei Lan outside, she just thought of my attempts as games.  In addition, Mei Lan had a good time trying to interact with me.  Luckily, Lun Lun eventually noticed that the cub was not around her and came back inside to investigate.  She first tried to get a response by nudging at Mei Lan and then turning to walk away.  Mei Lan did not follow the first few attempts that Lun Lun made; therefore, Lun Lun returned with some additional nudging with the goal of getting Mei Lan’s attention.  Ultimately, this appeared to be a game to Mei Lan, who tried to start a play bought with her mom.  Lun Lun then appeared to get frustrated with Mei Lan, because she started to vocalize to the cub, which finally got Mei Lan to listened and follow her outside.  If Lun Lun did not do all this, I would still be waiting and hoping that Mei Lan would eventually go outside, and who knows how long that would take.
Joseph T. Svoke
Giant Panda Keeper II

Saturday, June 23
Things that I did not miss while in China, well there are more than I probably could count. The first and biggest thing that comes to mind is the after effects that picking up torn apart bamboo leaves. Each species that the pandas eat like to leave their own unique mark on your body if you are not careful. Of the species that Lun and Yang are eating right now, "Henon" is one that likes to leave little splinters in your hands that you can't see clearly, but you can definitely feel. I have already had a number of those these last two weeks. One of their other favorite species most of the year, "Arrow", likes to leave nice rash like bumps where ever you happened to rub against it the wrong way. And that is what my left arm is covered with right now, fun! While in China I never had to worry about these problem, but it is one thing that I have to get use to again. It is just one of the hazards working with pandas, and one thing that people don't normally think about.
Joseph T. Svoke
Giant Panda Keeper II

Friday, June 22
Today's update is about beans. As in "full of." Like Mei Lan was this morning. She exhibits her mom's independent streak on occasion, going off on her own and playing by herself. Then there's those mornings, like today, where she takes after daddy Yang. When I was trying to shift the bears around this morning after working with Lun Lun on her study, Mei Lan suddenly started charging through the hall, full tilt, chasing after her mom. This looked to be a good thing, as mom was headed out onto exhibit. Suddenly Mei Lan stopped short, spun, stared at me, and took off at a dead baby run for the back den. I was running around the outside of the dens, trying to beat her to the door and close it, but to no avail. The little furball beat me through, and then appeared to regard me triumphantly before taking off in another direction. It was several minutes of this before she was herded into the end of the hallway, and then outside. This type of behavior is very much like her dad. And while it's super cute, it's a trifle frustrating when you're running behind in keeper work, and the cub is just being a goof.

Full of beans, I tell you.
Jay Pratte
Giant Panda Keeper III

Thursday, June 21
I’ve noticed this week that Lun Lun and Mei Lan have been spending some time resting in contact when they are outside in the mornings. It’s fairly rare to see a cub Mei Lan’s age resting in contact with its mother. Mei Lan seems to like Lun Lun’s favorite resting spot on one of the outdoor climbing structures and I suspect that is why they have been in contact more. Luckily, Lun Lun is quite willing to share the spot with Mei Lan, despite Mei Lan often giving Lun Lun’s ears some playful nips in between naps.
Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Carnivores

The biggest thing to remember about reinforcement/rewards is that it needs to have value to the recipient. If the trainee does not find the reward, well, "rewarding", then the desired behavior is not likely going to occur again. Trying to give Lun Lun a sweet potato (like Yang Yang loves) will result in an irritated bear and a decided lack of correct responses, since she can't stand them. So we need to try and find rewards for Mei Lan that work now, and will develop into safe future associations also. Mei Lan enjoys attention, but we cannot go sticking our arm through the bars and patting her if she does something right. At 40+ pounds she can still injure a person, and mom is usually in there with. Happy voices work, but they only gets us so far, since best results with rewards are obtained with primary reinforcers (i.e.- food, toys...). She does like banana, sugarcane, and biscuit pieces, but if mom is nearby she comes and takes them from her daughter, and so the reward didn't go where it needed to. We're trying to manage Mei Lan in tiny bouts off on her own while mom is training, and that enables her to respond and receive her own little rewards. I'm pretty sure as she grows and eats more solid food (and faster), this problem will solve itself. It's just figuring out how to reward her good behaviors until then...
Jay Pratte
Giant Panda Keeper III

Tuesday, June 19
I tend to look at life as one big training experience. Training essentially equals teaching, and if you stop and think about it, we are teaching those around us something all the time. If someone comes to visit you, and you smile at them and greet them warmly, chances are they're going to come see you again. If they visit, and haven't in a while, and the first thing you do is berate them for not calling sooner, chances are you won't see them very often at all. If your dog runs from you, and you call it back, it deserves a reward for coming when you asked, even though you may be angry it took off. If it comes back and you yell or punish it for running off, you are actually (based on the timing) punishing the animal for listening to you, for coming when you asked. So likely it will be more hesitant to come when asked in the future.

It's these types of associations that we as keepers need to be especially aware of, particularly around a young, impressionable panda cub. The adults know their routine and commands, but they will test us based on their own will. If I ask Lun Lun to shift outside, and she dawdles, and takes her time, and eats bamboo, and then goes out ten minutes later, I have just taught her that she can take ten minutes to shift, when what I want is for her to go now. So if JT has trained her "shift" means "within 30 seconds", and I come along and let her take as long as she wants, we have consistency and teaching issues. These types of problems can result in a lot of confusion and frustration for both keepers and bears, so we are always on our toes, making sure we all have the same expectations. And we communicate. A LOT.

Since we're shaping the future behaviors of Mei Lan, we need to think ahead, no matter how small, furry, and adorable she is now. It may be fun to poke her little round belly through the bars, or let her chew on our finger now, but when she's 100 or 200 pounds, that's not going to be a desired behavior. So we need to watch what we teach now, with the future in mind. I have found in my life that you can shape almost any situation into what you want, if you put yourself in your subject's shoes and consider what message is actually being learned, as opposed to what you think they are picking up from you.
Jay Pratte
Giant Panda Keeper III

Monday, June 18
Today while I was collecting data on Yang Yang I noticed how much he seemed to be enjoying his cool air-conditioned den. As mentioned in previous updates, we are using the large air-conditioned dayrooms for Lun Lun and Mei Lan this summer, and so Yang Yang has access to the den space when he wants to escape the heat. Watching him made me think about how giant pandas at the Chengdu Research Base and Chengdu Zoo cool off in the summer.

The weather in Chengdu is very similar to Atlanta. Many of the giant panda buildings there have air conditioning and large fans now. However, several years ago the buildings did not have air conditioning. So, the animal care staff gave the giant pandas huge blocks of ice to lie on to cool off. I remember watching Yang Yang and his mother Ya Ya play with an ice block in the summer of 1998. It is one of my fondest memories of them. There is a good story about ice on Lun Lun’s side of the family. Lun Lun’s mother was born at the Chengdu Zoo in August of 1986. The keepers told me it was so hot when she was born that they put a large amount of ice all around her mother’s den to reduce the temperature. Because of this, they named Lun Lun’s mother Bing Bing. The word bing means ice and, like most giant panda names, it’s doubled as a sign of affection.
Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Carnivores

Sunday, June 17
It has been a couple of weeks now since I have last written an update.  The thing that has changed the most for me is that I am now back in Atlanta, and back working at the zoo.  There will be no more updates on my adventures in China anymore.  The trip on a whole was great, filled with lots of stories and good times, and it will be something that I will always remember.  Of course, it is great to be back home, even though I feel like I haven't settled back in fully.

I have been back at the zoo now for four days getting back into the same old routine that existed before I had left.  Mei Lan has grown lots, and it is great to see her being more active.  Lun and Yang are up to their tricks they like to pull on "new" people, which I know that Jay mentioned yesterday.  The first time that I saw Yang Yang again I almost called him by his sisters name Yao La Da, but then realized that I am not in Chengdu anymore.  Both look fairly alike to me when comparing the shape and size of their heads, so I think that is what threw me for a loop initially.  I will probably make the mistake again at some point, but Yang should take it as a complement since, to me, his sister is a very beautiful panda.
Joseph T. Svoke
Giant Panda Keeper II

Saturday, June 16
I now feel that I should update people on how training is progressing, as I know the Zoo has received numerous emails and calls about our program. Particularly after seeing  the WSB-TV special, which I believe re-airs tomorrow (Sunday June 17th). Anyhow, Kate has really moved Mei Lan's target training along, which is going to be very important, very soon. As the "cub" increases in size, the only safe way to get her to move around will be like we do the adults; teach them to follow commands. Mei Lan is responding well so far, and reliably touches her nose to our target stick, though sometimes it takes a while for her to muster the energy or will to do so.

Lun Lun is improving with her recall study training. She no longer eats the buttons (thank heavens...), targets away from the lights well, and now holds her target and watches the light switch on. Now however, she presses the correct button frequently, but then immediately pushes the other. We unintentionally reinforced this early on, when we focused on her touching, not ingesting, the buttons, rewarding her for essentially pushing ANYTHING with her nose. So now we have to differentially reinforce when she touches one button, and that the correct one. You can see what an effort it is to teach her just to interact properly in order to just start the actual study.

And lastly, JT is back in the building and has worked the last few days. I have mentioned in the past that animals will try and cheat when able, offering up miniscule or incorrect responses in hopes of still getting a full reward. I am always on guard against this, so usually get consistent responses. What is entertaining is that Lun and Yang are both "testing" JT (who is also very consistent) to see if they can "get away with" anything. It's not working, and they don't seem impressed. Sorry bears, he's not a newcomer. This "consistency" in teaching will be essential, since in the next few weeks we will probably be training some new people in the area.
Jay Pratte
Giant Panda Keeper III

Friday, June 15
We had a question recently about whether a giant panda mother and her offspring would recognize each other when the offspring is an adult and had dispersed from the mother. I don’t know the answer for sure, but I doubt that they would recognize each other as kin for a couple of reasons. First, giant panda mothers do not seem to distinguish their cubs from other females’ cubs. There are many cases in captivity in which mothers have cared for cubs other then their own without seeming to notice which cub they were caring for. In the wild, giant panda mothers would be very unlikely to encounter a cub other than their own, and so they do not seem to have a mechanism to distinguish their cub from others. Second, I have observed female giant pandas housed with their adult daughters in captivity and the relationship between these females does not seem to be any different than that between unrelated adult females. In some cases, mother and daughter were aggressive to each other. In other cases, mother and daughter ignored, but tolerated each other. I have not observed any affiliative (friendly) relationships among any adult females related or otherwise. Third, one way in which giant pandas recognize other individuals is based on scent gland secretions. Dependent cubs don’t have fully developed scent glands which produce secretions. Most scent gland development happens after a cub would already have dispersed from its mother. For these reasons, I don’t think that females recognize their adult offspring, but it has not been scientifically tested. So, we don’t know for sure.
Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Carnivores

	The loveable goof at play...

Thursday, June 14
Mei Lan has certainly captured the hearts of her adoring public but has also had a great affect on the Zoo staff as well. Being that my office houses panda cam and its many monitors-I'm always in tune with Mei's antics and always have been! It was from this office where after days of anticipation and observation we watched her being born. It amazes me how that little pink thing who could only squeal is now the tumbling blur of a bear she is now!

I'm always trying to monitor her when she's at her most playful. It seems now during my lunch Mei finds it a fantastic opportunity to wrestle with mom. I constantly have to put down my sandwich so I can follow her around. She's very fast now! I've seen many times where Lun Lun initiates play by somersaulting onto her back so Mei can pounce on her tummy-what a mom.

So panda fans, take heart in knowing that your community most definitely includes me too!
Becky Scheel
Webmaster and panda fan

Wednesday, June 13
Mei Lan has once again cooperated with me so I would be able to obtain her measurements. In less then a month (May 20th was the last time I was able to get her stats) she has gained just under 5 pounds and now tips the scales at 41.5 pounds (18.9 kg). Her body length is now 44 inches (a gain of 6 inches since May 20th). Her neck girth and abdomen girth measurements are still both tricky to get due to her thick fur. Her neck is about 18 inches while her belly has gone from 21 ½ to 26 inches around (give or take some fur) since May 20th. Her ears and paws have not gotten noticeably bigger like the rest of her.
Kate Roca
Giant Panda Keeper II

Tuesday, June 12
Yang Yang and Lun Lun are still mostly eating the culm or stalk of arrow bamboo (Pseudosasa japonica). This week they have also started to eat the culm and some leaves of another favorite species, called henon (Phyllostachys nigra). Summer is quickly approaching and that is usually the most challenging season in which to feed the giant pandas. Our giant pandas and those at some other captive facilities, like the Chengdu Research Base, often become even more selective about the bamboo species and plant parts they will eat in the summer. We typically offer more bamboo species in the summer than at any other time of year to try to find something the pandas will eat well for a few weeks. We think that one reason for increased selectivity in the summer is that the bamboo is less palatable because of the heat. The Atlanta area is also currently experiencing a drought, which will likely cause an additional challenge this year. We are fortunate to have an excellent team of extremely hard working people on staff at our animal nutrition kitchen. They cut approximately 3240 pounds of fresh bamboo each week for the giant pandas and other animals at the zoo. That’s 168,502 pounds of bamboo in a year!
Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Carnivores

Monday, June 11
We recently received a question asking if Lun Lun and Yang Yang are spending any time together. Lun Lun and Yang Yang normally only share an enclosure for a few days during the breeding season. Giant pandas are solitary, which means that every individual has its own home range and rarely encounters another giant panda. The only truly social periods of a giant panda’s life are the time a cub spends with its mother, the time that a mother spends rearing her cub, and mating encounters during the breeding season. We try to mimic this at Zoo Atlanta by keeping our adult giant pandas in separate enclosures except around the time that Lun Lun ovulates.

Yang Yang and Lun Lun spent a lot of time together when they were cubs, because many young giant pandas in China are housed with peers. This practice is common partly because some breeding centers do not have the space to house all their giant pandas separately and partly because cubs are often removed from their mothers before 1.5 years of age in captive facilities in China (this has been the topic of previous updates). Housing young cubs with each other, helps make up for being removed from their mothers at a younger age than is normal in the wild. Yang Yang and Lun Lun spent much of their time playing and resting in contact when they were housed together as cubs in China and subadults at Zoo Atlanta. However, when they became sexually mature, their encounters became more and more aggressive until we decided that it was best for them to live similarly to how they would if they were wild adults.

Giant pandas communicate mainly through scent, and so we have our adult pandas exchange enclosures frequently to promote this. They are also able to see each other and have some tactile contact through a mesh barrier during certain times of the year, especially during the breeding season. I think Yang Yang and Lun Lun have a positive, affiliative (friendly) relationship with each other. However, I also believe that if we put them in the same enclosure with each other outside of Lun Lun’s estrous period (ovulatory cycle) that they would fight with each other. There is no reason to subject them to this, because it’s not how they would live in the wild. Thus, Yang Yang and Lun Lun will remain separated until Lun Lun’s next estrous cycle, which may be in spring 2008 depending on when Mei Lan is weaned.
Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Carnivores

Sunday, June 10
We saw the first signs of Mei Lan’s teeth on Oct 19, 2006 during one of her health checks. Then we noted that two of them had erupted on Nov. 22, 2006. Now, Mei Lan has 28 tiny teeth poking though her gum line. Pandas start off with deciduous or baby teeth.  She will have her full set of permanent teeth when she is about a year old. Once Mei Lan grows all of her adult teeth in, she will have a total of 38.
Kate Roca
Giant Panda Keeper II

Saturday, June 9
It's been a great week for training the pandas. Mei Lan is still responding well when we ask her to "come", and Kate has had luck getting her on the scale with the metal bowl. Kate also had great progress teaching Lun Lun to interact with the sleeve in the den area, training her to cooperate with voluntary blood draws. This is particularly important this year, since we do not want to have to immobilize Lun Lun for an annual check-up. Mei Lan will nurse the entire year, and we wouldn't want to risk any of the drugs passing from mom to cub through the milk. Analyzing the blood can determine general health on a number of levels, so Kate is trying hard to reach this goal.

Yang Yang had not seen the blood sleeve for many, many months, since the only area it attaches to the den mesh is in the far end, where Lun Lun gave birth to Mei Lan, and subsequently cared for her for all that time. Well, dad didn't forget anything. He popped his paw into the sleeve and hooked it, allowing myself and the vet tech to shave him, put strong pressure on the veins and then use alcohol and even a needle! This was great for me to see, since he remembered what he was supposed to do, and still enjoys cooperating for his food rewards. Many of you will have watched this blood draw training on the recent TV special.

Lun Lun is finally progressing in her recall study. She has stopped trying to eat the buttons, is actually pushing them with her nose, and will target off to the sides. We are now focusing on getting her to target further away from the apparatus, so that she can see the entire box when a light is turned on, and hopefully learn to associate the light with button-pushing, to earn her favourite treats.

Hooray for smart pandas (and smart panda trainers too!)!!! Jay Pratte
Giant Panda Keeper III

	"Mei in a barrel"
	Act III: Gravity takes control

Friday, June 8
We have received some questions lately about the giant panda’s behavior at night, particularly whether Lun Lun and Mei Lan sleep together. We have not watched them overnight since Mei Lan was about four months old. We do know that the adult giant pandas spend some of their time sleeping at night, but also get up periodically to eat. Their nighttime behavior actually tends to be similar to their daytime behavior, because giant pandas are neither diurnal nor nocturnal. We think that Mei Lan also has active periods interspersed with sleep periods at night. She and Lun Lun share the same dens overnight. They might sleep in the same den sometimes, but I suspect they rarely sleep in contact because they rarely sleep in contact during the day.
Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

Thursday, June 7
Mei Lan continues to grow steadily. Her weight this morning was 18.2 kg (40.1 lbs). She still has quite a bit of growing to do to reach the 100+ kg (220+ lbs) of an adult female.
Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Giant Panda Research and Management

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