Su Lin (pictured with her mother, Bai Yun) will sleep through the day; even if it is raining, she will swing with the breeze in the tree, enjoying the change. Lately she is more active: coming down to eat, playing with the bushes, rolling down the hill, even trying to catch her own tail. She is eating more bamboo now, taking small branches of bamboo up into the tree to enjoy a quiet spot while eating. A few weeks ago, we had a light rain and she actually watched the rain falling from the sky. I just wish I knew her thoughts at that time. Rain or shine, this little female panda loves her tree, so she spends lots of her time way up high.

When we do have rain here it is time to come and watch the animals; believe it or not, they are very active in the rain. As I stroll through the San Diego Zoo, it is interesting to see the big cats sitting in the rain, or the birds flying around really enjoying the wet stuff. Many people avoid coming at that time, but let me encourage you–-this is a good time to come and watch their activity. You will be surprised at how many animals enjoy the change of weather.

Mei Sheng really gets active in the rain, climbing the trees, running around the enclosure, and just being a silly bear. Bai Yun is only interested in her food and when it’s coming again. This panda loves to eat, like most of them, but she really gets into eating; rain does not seem to slow this female down. Gao Gao–-what can I say about this fantastic bear? He is fine no matter what the weather, always ready to eat and he always looks so sweet.

I must tell you about old Shi Shi. When Shi Shi came to us in 1996, he was kinda grouchy and I just loved to watch him; in fact, he was my favorite for many years. One very rainy day in ‘97 he was so upset with the rainfall he went to his exhibit door and started banging on it to be let in. Not tapping, but banging and bleating. He was so loud that the keeper came to see what all the racket was about. We stood and watched Shi Shi for several moments and her comment was, “A wild bear that can’t deal with a little rain!” By this time it was really pouring and he was just going on and on, so she said, “I guess I’ll give him access to his bedroom.” Once she opened his den door he disappeared into the back. Content, he hung his head out the doorway, but not too far out because it was still raining out there! I really liked that old bear and still do. He was a grouchy, funny bear and it payed off. Even now, when it rains I can hear Shi Shi banging on that door. Memories are so wonderful!

So even if it rains, grab your rain gear and spend some time here watching Su Lin swinging in the rain.

Kay Ferguson is a panda narrator at the San Diego Zoo.

As we hiked around St Bee’s radio tracking koalas, we started to focus on individuals. One of the koalas we started to track daily was a male named Jackaroo. He is an older male and has a radio collar on him. He also lives on the knoll, our focal point for koala tracking on the island. One of the goals of this trip was to see if I could record wild koala bellows and do playback experiments (explained later). At the San Diego Zoo, I record the koalas in the evenings, so we decided to head out one evening about 5 p.m. and see what I could record. That night, we tracked Jackaroo and found him in a tree with a female koala in a neighboring tree. Fred and Bill left me there with my recording equipment and went on to track another female (Xena and her daughter, Jen) that was nearby….then it all started. Jackaroo let out a long bellow from up in his tree. Before I knew it, he was climbing down the tree and running over to some smaller trees that he proceeded to scent mark (four trees in all)!! I could not believe my eyes. I rarely see this at the San Diego Zoo, much less expected to see it in the wild! After only a couple of minutes he was off and running again across the ground. By now I had radioed Bill and Fred to come back over to my location so that we could track Jackaroo and see what he was up to. When we caught up with him again (we didn’t want to go running after him because we were trying not to disturb him) he was up in another tree and wouldn’t you know it…he started to bellow again! Thankfully, I had my recorder handy and was able to record his bellows. Now, as if this wonderful night was not exciting enough for me, Jackaroo kept amazing us.

Just a few nights later we decided to attempt a playback experiment with Jackaroo and an unknown female. We would play a koala bellow through a speaker placed near Jackaroo and a female and then observe and record their reactions (if any) to the call. I had brought a CD of male and female bellows recorded at the San Diego Zoo to do just this. These would be novel calls to the koalas on the island. We set up, with Fred watching the female, Bill watching Jackaroo, and the playback speaker and myself hidden from view about 16 feet (5 meters) away. First I played our control sound (something they would never normally hear; a gibbon call) and the animals reacted just slightly to the sound, but it didn’t change their behavior long term. Ten minutes later, I played a bellow from Gonta, one of the males living at the San Diego Zoo, and WOW!! Jackaroo didn’t know what to do! He started climbing around the tree he was on and then just couldn’t contain himself…he let loose a loud bellow directed right at me. It was so intense that I was a little afraid he was going to come running through the brush to show me who was boss! Here’s his bellow…

Jennifer Tobey is a Research Fellow in the Behavioral Biology Division of CRES.

Here’s more information about Jennifer’s study.

The California condor is a very large member of the vulture family Cathartidae. How large? I myself was quite surprised when I got up close with one for the first time… these birds are REALLY big! The typical adult stands as high as mid-thigh level on me, and I am pretty tall myself. The wingspan is amazing too: fully stretched out, the wings reach about nine to 10 feet (2.7 to 3 meters) from tip to tip. The adults have colorful patches on their bare head and throat, showing shades of pink, blue, and yellow. These are truly impressive looking birds.

I am working with other researchers to study the behavior of captive young condors that are destined for release into the wild. We are hoping to determine any social or temperamental factors that might help us to predict which individual birds are going to be successful in their native habitat, and which might fail in adapting to life on their own. Successful releases are a critical part of the management of this highly endangered species.

As a resident of California, I am excited to be working with a species that would naturally be seen in the wild places of my home state. Historically, the condor range extended from British Columbia to Baja, and from the Pacific Coast to east Texas and Mexico along the southern U.S. border. This bird belongs to the West Coast of our continent, and I am happy to participate in some small way in bringing it back to its native lands. If you live near Hopper Mountain in Ventura, California, or near Big Sur, or by the Grand Canyon, or even in Baja California, Mexico, look to the skies to see if you can spot one of these special birds in flight. We hope that as we continue our efforts to support their population growth, the likelihood of spotting one becomes even higher!

Suzanne Hall is a senior research laboratory technician for Giant Panda Conservation Unit, Applied Animal Ecology Division/CRES.

Here’s more information about the California Condor Recovery Program.

The plants are looking pretty amazing considering night temperatures are really beginning to dip here in San Diego, down into the low 40’s (sorry if you’re in Buffalo reading this- I don’t mean to gloat). The sundews Drosera species (pictured) are looking about as good as ever. As I mentioned in my last blog, the flytraps Dionaea muscipula are about the worst of the bunch. Really, though, they look pretty good- just a little small. I’m beginning to see the effects of winter a little bit on the pitcher plants Sarracenia species. The flowers have dried up. I have continuously been cleaning out dead pitchers. However, the ones that are still alive look as beautiful as the day I met them. I even see some immature pitchers peeking up their little heads from the peat. For many plants in San Diego, the weather can be very confusing. I’ve watched many a neurotic deciduous tree drop its leaves, then put on new ones a month later, only to drop them again. We get cold nights often while the days feel just as warm as summer. Warm Santa Ana winds off the desert make it even harder for many plants from elsewhere to know what time of year it is.

The Sarracenia have been the backdrop for the Bog Garden since it was established. The tallest ones, the yellow pitchers Sarracenia flava, white pitchers Sarracenia leucophylla, and Judith Hindle hybrids grow as tall as 24 inches (61 centimeters). The purple pitcher plants Sarracenia purpurea and hooded pitcher plants Sarracenia minor are quite squat in comparison, and so they are set toward the fore of the bog, behind the sundews and flytraps. These wonderful and stunning carnivores eat heartily. I hardly ever see a bug actually going in. When I cut out the dead pitchers, however, I find them full of bees, beetles, and other assorted prey. The largest thing I’ve found so far—and there are lots of them—are the fig beetles. If you have an edible fig tree in your yard, you know this beetle well. It’s the big, green iridescent guy with the loud buzz. They can get to be over an inch long. They must provide some pretty good nutrition for our pitcher plants, but it also seems they might take some effort to digest!

I’ll continue to monitor the bog as things cool down. Even as it gets chillier, we will continue to plant more items that should do well. Judy Bell (who has been gardening in the Zoo since 1987 and in the Heart of the Zoo area since it opened in 1991) has been growing lots of extra bog plants. We are planning to add up to 20 new sundews next week from her nursery. If you happen to be around the Zoo, come by and check out the new plants!

Mychael McNeeley is a senior gardener at the San Diego Zoo.