Dr. Don Lindburg, head of the Giant Panda Conservation Division, shared this happy information with members of the local media and the dozens of Zoo visitors who happened to stop by. He explained that ultrasound tests revealed the presence of two fetuses, but that one was much larger than the other and it was likely that only one cub would be born while the other fetus might be resorbed by the mother’s body. It would be nice to have twin giant panda babies, but the important thing is to have a healthy cub born to a healthy panda mom.

I think the best news of all is that we won’t have long to wait for the birth! Dr. Lindburg predicted that, based on the size of the viable fetus, Bai Yun should be welcoming her baby by the middle of next week. My heart is ready to be captured once more!

Debbie Andreen is the San Diego Zoo’s Web site editor.

One of the most satisfying moments in our job is when we are notified of the reproductive success of a captive-reared/released bird in its native habitat. A chick produced in the wild by a captive bird represents several milestones. The released birds have survived long enough to become reproductively active, the habitat has sufficient quality to maintain birds and provide the resources to support reproduction, the chicks have enough resources to fledge and wean, and the predators, diseases, and other limiting factors are being managed to a level that adults and chicks can survive.

On July 22, 2005 we received the very welcome news from the USGS-BRD field crew that one of the male palila, released in 2003 (studbook #38, hatched in 2001) was observed feeding two fledgling palila. The only female in the area was a bird translocated by the USGS-BRD in 2004. This is the first observation of a successful reproductive event for a captive-reared palila since we began releasing palila on Mauna Kea in late 2003. We are excited by the news and remain optimistic that this is simply the beginning of what we hope will be a new population in the managed mamane forests of Puu Mali.

We sincerely appreciate the hard work of the USGS-BRD field crew who have spent many days and weeks in the field, following the translocated palila as well as our captive/released birds.

Alan Lieberman is the program director for the San Diego Zoo’s Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program.