< month 15
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Red pandas are cute too! |
Wednesday, November 7
Hello from China! Although I’m sure everyone comes to this page to read about our beloved Mei Lan, I thought I’d let you know about some other little pandas that need love, too. Working at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding these last months, I’ve become enamored with what some call the “lesser panda.” Red pandas are actually the original “pandas.” They were discovered first, and giant pandas were named after them. For many years, red pandas and giant pandas were believed to be closely related and were thus classified in the same family, Ailurinae. Thanks to DNA analysis, we now know that red pandas belong to the procyonid family (which also includes raccoons), whereas giant pandas belong in the ursid or bear family. There are only a little over 2,000 red pandas left in the world, but they aren’t well known and often get ignored.
Last week, a coworker and I got the okay to do some enrichment for the red panda mothers and cubs at the Research Base. This is the only other mammal species that the Research Base houses. The red panda cubs are kept in a pretty sterile nursery of solid concrete, with sleeping boxes in one corner. As everyone who reads these updates knows, enrichment is key in making captive environments stimulating for animals. In the wild, animals are constantly busy finding food sources, safe places to sleep and mates, and they spend the rest of their time defending their territory from rivals and avoiding predators. Captive animals, however, don’t have those challenges to occupy them. We provide animals with enrichment that stimulates them and hopefully encourages them to use some of the same behaviors and adaptations they need to survive in the wild. Enrichment usually comes in the form of toys, snacks or novel scents that are ideally changed every day. Enrichment items have to be changed because repeated exposure lessens interest, and they can’t be enriching if they aren’t exciting. Think of new furniture – when you first sit on the couch, you marvel over how soft it is, but after a few days, you just use it as a seat.
To get animals interested, we usually fill toys with treats that the animals have to manipulate out. Feeders like these are usually big favorites, but the red panda cubs we’re working with are still only drinking milk, so enrichment for them has to be different. Our first day, we smeared peanut butter on the walls to give them new smells to explore. Next, we brought bananas, one of Mei Lan’s favorites when she first got interested in solid food, hoping the red panda cubs would be able to lick them and explore the smell. Plans are in the works for other smells, toys and treats as soon as the cubs are old enough. This week, we’re bringing in more toys, balls and climbing structures to keep the little ones busy.
Hopefully we’ll get to make a difference in the lives of these active little guys.
Maryanne Heard
Research Intern
Monday, November 5
All three giant pandas adjusted to the ending of daylight savings time quite well. J.T. opened yesterday and said that Yang Yang was still asleep at the adjusted 7 a.m. time, while Mei Lan and Lun Lun were both awake like they always are. We know that the time change can throw off their eating schedule, but we did our best to feed them according to the changed time to allow them to adjust quickly and get back on track. Today, Lun Lun and Yang Yang seem to be back on their regular patterns of eating and sleeping.
Kate Roca
Carnivore Keeper II
Friday, November 2
I cannot believe how quickly Mei Lan is growing. She still looks very cub-like, but I can see more and more adult features every week. However, when it comes to playtime, she is still a baby. She loves to play, especially with her mother. If Lun Lun does not want to play, it doesn’t matter. Mei Lan jumps on her and tugs at her anyway. Lately, Mei has been very feisty in the mornings during Lun Lun’s breakfast time. Lun Lun will be munching away on her bamboo when Mei Lan pounces on her. Usually, Lun just pushes her away and continues eating, but very rarely, if Mei is persistent, Lun will give in and play with her before going back to eating. Although Mei Lan is typically the initiator, Lun Lun will also initiate a play bout (only once she’s finished eating, though!).
Heather Baker Roberts
Carnivore Keeper I
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She pondered what to be for Halloween... |
Wednesday, October 31
Happy Halloween
Mei Lan got to meet a ghost for Halloween. The keepers made a frame of bamboo which they draped with a sheet to make a ghost toy for her. She initially ignored it because she was busy eating her mom’s leaf eater biscuits. When she did notice it, she was very interested in it. She played with it gently at first, but then wrestled vigorously with it for about ten minutes. The ghost looked a little worse for wear by the end.
Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Carnivores
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Some pandas are more keen to play leap frog than others... |
Monday, October 29
I thought that over the weekend we were going to lose one of the little juniper trees (at least, that’s what I’m calling it) in the outside habitat. If you are familiar with the exhibit, there is one badly-shaped one that is growing next to the large windows that look out from the “viewing hut.” Lun and Yang have always knocked into it, walked over it, pushed logs onto it but have somehow never managed to kill it yet. Needless to say, it is very flexible and misshapen from all the abuse. Mei Lan, though, got hold of it, and I would have bet money that it was the end. The way Mei has started tearing everything apart, biting and pulling at everything, I thought the tree was going to be snapped in half. But somehow that little tree came out victorious in the end and is still living. I’m sure that this is just the first of many attacks that Mei will lay upon the tree.
Just so everyone is aware, Lun Lun has decided that she is not going to learn Spanish. Just for fun, I asked her where her baby was, with the little Spanish I know. Of course, she stared at me like I was crazy and just wanted her biscuits. When asked if she knows any Spanish, she was quick to shake her head no. She does not want to have to learn a third language, I guess; she says that two is hard enough. Kate thinks I’m crazy, but it’s just a little humor on my part, I thought.
Joseph T. Svoke
Carnivore Keeper II
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Mei aknowledges her well wishers with a flutter from her paw |
Friday, October 26
For those of you who keep up with the daily lives of Lun Lun, Mei Lan and Yang Yang, my name (and face) might be unfamiliar, but actually I have been around since 2003. While still a student at Georgia State University, I met Dr. Snyder and became a keeper and research intern for the giant panda department. This was my first experience with captive wild animals. In addition to learning the daily routine of the pandas, I discovered the ins and outs of animal data collection and observation. I was immediately hooked and felt I had found my niche. Nine months into my internship, I moved away to complete a year-long study abroad course in England. While in England, I took a seasonal keeper position at a local zoo. Upon my return to Atlanta, Dr. Snyder was happy to allow me to continue as an intern. In 2006, the opportunity I had been waiting three years for opened up. I applied for and was offered the seasonal keeper position in giant pandas. My job was to take the place of a regular keeper in the daytime once the 24-hour "birth watch" began. It was an exciting time. This was the third year Lun Lun’s birth watch had been implemented, and everyone was anxious for a cub. As you all know, 2006 was Lun Lun’s year for a cub, and I was honored to have been there throughout her pregnancy and for Mei Lan’s birth. Fortunately for me, a cub also meant my position would extend to December instead of ending in August. Since December, I have been working as a keeper in the Birds and Small Animals Department, and now I am thrilled to return to new Carnivore Department caring for the giant pandas once again
Heather Baker Roberts
Carnivore Keeper I
Wednesday, October 24
When Mei Lan first started going into the dayrooms, we added steps at the doors so her little legs could easily reach the openings. In the outdoor habitats, we placed bumpers in the moats to keep her from hitting rock if she fell in, as well as to give her a way to climb out. Well, the last of the bumpers was removed earlier this month and were left in the exhibit as a new enrichment item for the bears to play with. The very last of the “cub proofing” was removed today. Now that Mei Lan is tall enough, we have pulled the rocks that she used as stepping stones into Dayroom One. I guess when you’re a 66-pound bear, you can do it on your own!
Kate Roca
Carnivore Keeper II
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The sweet smell of bamboo |
Monday, October 22
As JT wrote in the last update, we have seen Mei Lan eating more and more bamboo recently. She is still nursing as well and that continues to be her main source of calories. This afternoon she and Lun Lun had their usual nursing bout in the hammock. It started with Lun Lun bleating several times, and then climbing up to wake Mei Lan and pull her down from the climbing structure. The session lasted for about 15 minutes. Then Lun Lun left to eat more bamboo and Mei Lan went back to sleep.
Rebecca Snyder, PhD
Curator of Carnivores
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Biscuit wishes and bamboo dreams |
Friday, October 19
Mei is eating more and more bamboo each day and trying to eat any part of it that she can. Over the past week, I have noticed two things that caught my attention. One morning while I was doing my morning check, she had a piece of Arrow bamboo in her hand and was lying on her back. I had walked away to take care of some other things, and all of a sudden, I heard a snapping noise similar to the sound of pandas culming bamboo. I didn’t think anything of it initially, figuring it was just Lun eating her last little bit before going out in the morning. A few minutes later when I passed Mei again, she had three shards on her belly, like her parents get when peeling the outside of the bamboo. Unfortunately, I didn’t see this actually happen, so I can’t prove that she is learning what we call the culming process, but I like to think that she is. Just a few mornings after that, another interesting thing happened. After Mei had gotten her morning biscuits and fruit for weighing, she picked up a piece of Black bamboo and started to pick off leaves. You might be wondering why this was so interesting to me. Well, many of you might not know that her parents like to eat bamboo after eating leafeater biscuits. It is an odd behavior that we see, but both Lun Lun and Yang Yang do it for some undetermined reason. Mei seems to be following in their footsteps when it comes to this behavior, because after that morning, if she gets a biscuit she also likes to eat some bamboo. Overall, it’s good that the drive to eat bamboo is greater than before.
Joseph T. Svoke
Carnivore Keeper II
Wednesday, October 17
It is with mixed feelings and no small amount of trepidation that I write this update. Technically, it applies to pandas, so the venue is appropriate. But this will be the last update that I will write as a Giant Panda Keeper. I have accepted a new position here at Zoo Atlanta, and tomorrow is my last day in the panda area. I’ve been hired by the Education Animal Programs Department as the new Lead Keeper in the Wildlife Theater. This is a promotion and an amazing opportunity for me to develop new skills – thus the mixed feelings. I have been with the bears and staff here for almost four years now, and they have effectively become like extended family. So I’m saddened that I will no longer see Yang’s goofy antics, Lun’s love of training or Mei’s growing on a daily basis. I will still remain involved with the department for the next while, turning over complex training behaviours (like blood draws and ultrasounds) to the other keepers and finishing the spatial work with Bonnie.
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Jay doing training |
On the other hand, I will now have the opportunity to impact the lives of many more new and amazing animals. The Education Animal Programs Department encompasses a staggering array of birds and mammals, conducts presentations and shows year-round and directly impacts visitors by educating them on the greater roles of zoos in conservation. Training birds for the Wildlife Theater will also permit me to develop different training skills than I am used to exercising, and I look forward to learning new things every day. The Education Department has some truly outstanding people working to provide excellent animal care AND public education, and they have been very warm and welcoming toward me, so I know that the transition should be relatively painless.
So many of you have been supportive of the pandas, of their care staff, and particularly, of me. I want to take this last opportunity to publicly thank you for this support and encourage you to continue your interest and involvement as Mei Lan grows and as new staff come into the pandas’ lives. Perhaps I can nudge a few of you to love some other animals (birds, maybe?) almost as much as you do the pandas.
I’ll still be here, an active part of the Zoo Atlanta family! Look for me doing shows at our fabulous Wildlife Theater in the near future.
Thanks for making a difference and providing the positive feedback that recognizes that I *may* have made a difference in our pandas’ lives, and maybe a little bit in yours, too.
Jay Pratte
Carnivore Keeper III
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Move over Stamos, there's a new bongo player in town! |
Monday, October 15
Most mornings when we arrive at 7 a.m. to start our day of caring for the pandas, Lun Lun is awake and ready to go. She is usually sitting by the keeper door waiting for us to bring her morning meal, while Mei Lan is usually lying about or exploring her enrichment item from overnight. But on a few rare mornings (like today), I get surprised by the calmness in the girls’ night holding. When I tiptoed into the back dens to check on them, I was surprised to see an early morning nursing session. It is always a nice change of pace to see such a precious moment.
Kate Roca
Carnivore Keeper II
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The ball O' fur |
Friday, October 13
Sometimes I wonder how Lun Lun puts up with all of Mei Lan’s antics. One minute, Lun is sitting eating her bamboo, and the next, Mei is sneaking up behind her and attacking. Lun tries to ignore her initially, but it’s hard to ignore a 63-pound thing biting your back over and over again. I was joking the other day with one of my fellow keepers that, when Mei is older, any male that gets put in with her during breeding season is going to be in for a rude awakening. Granted, I am speculating, but I can’t imagine Mei putting up with much from a male that she doesn’t like. But all of that is years away yet, and right now she only has the chance to torment mom.
Joseph T. Svoke
Carnivore Keeper II
Wednesday, October 10
It’s taken a couple of days to get back into the swing of things after being out of town all last week at a National Zookeepers Conference in Galveston, TX. I presented a training workshop with other members of our training committee, as well as the paper Bonnie Perdue and I co-authored on our spatial memory study.
Speaking of which, Lun Lun is still at a bit of a plateau. We have hit a point where we have been turning off the light as she approaches the button, so it is entirely off as she touches it. While she’s still scoring well enough to pass, we have not been able to make the distinct connection we would like to see in order to implement the actual delay. (The light is off, Lun waits two seconds, and then she is asked to respond.) Bonnie and I will focus on finding a way to help Lun Lun understand over the next few sessions.
I leave for a week, and Mei Lan starts eating bamboo! Not just playing with it and mouthing it, but actually eating it. I guess it was inevitable that I would miss one of her milestones, but this is a pretty big one. She can usually be seen lying on her back with a stem in her mouth, munching away. I had hoped she would take to eating the leaves first, but mom has been culming for months, and that’s what the little one sees. Kate said that she’s seen the kiddo trying to peel the culms like the adults, but so far without much success. I’m guessing it won’t be long before she can do that, too …
How does that jingle go? “I’m a big kid now!”
Jay Pratte
Carnivore Keeper III
Monday, October 8
Yesterday after J.T. and I finished the morning cleaning routine, we went into the camera observation room to check on the pandas. Yang Yang was happily sleeping in his cave, while the girls were just waking up from their morning nap. We stayed to observe Lun Lun and Mei Lan a little longer to see if Lun would be ready for some more food outside or whether it would be time to bring them into the dayrooms. It was at this time that they provided us with a good laugh. Both of them were on top of the climbing structure, and Lun Lun started to rub her rear end against the wooden post to get a good scratch. At the same time, Mei Lan started to do the same, and we ended up with dueling butt scratches. It just shows us how quickly she is growing up.
Kate Roca
Carnivore Keeper II
< month 15
