Yes, all three bears have a special way of communicating which is the favored item and what they don’t want taken away. I have had toys disappear for weeks before they magically reappear on exhibit somewhere. That’s the bears’ way of letting me know it’s okay to remove them now! They will also spend hours, sometimes, taking turns stuffing things inside the pipe and then digging them out and repeating this another 50 times. We have even had a whole pine tree disappear once around the holidays. It was discovered a few months later!

I share this with you because Chinook (pictured with her paw on Kalluk’s head) decided to put a twist on my morning. She had been on the main exhibit by herself overnight so I gave her a cow femur bone. She came off exhibit beautifully but the bone was nowhere to be found. Well, I had a pretty good idea where it was and I knew the other bears would find it soon enough. But this is a perfect example of not wanting to invite trouble where it isn’t needed. All three bears are still getting along well but they are still fed separately and they are still separated overnight. They may get veggies or small treats together, but we never offer the preferred foods in that type of situation.

So on a morning where I’d usually put all three bears together, I had to change things up until the bone was retrieved. It didn’t take long before Kalluk found it, and at an opportune time, I could shift him off exhibit and remove the bone. Of course, it’s important to make sure he receives lots of reinforcement for coming off as well as something just as fun when he goes back on exhibit since his “toy” had been taken away. He didn’t seem to mind because then Chinook was out with him and the play soon began.

This is just one example of why it’s important for us to maintain as much flexibility and variability as possible. We continue to try to change which bear is out when and with what other bear and for how long. This way, when those little obstacles come up, the bears are well prepared for whatever situation the day may bring.

Kelly Murphy is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

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As you know, Bai Yun has been leaving the den to feed for some time now. At first, her feeding sessions were very brief, on the order of a few minutes here and there. Since her initial forays from the den, however, her feeding bouts have increased in length, sometimes exceeding 40 minutes in duration now. She is rapidly approaching her pre-pregnancy feeding levels… but she is not there yet. She is still being offered a little bit less food than she received while in her pre-pregnancy prime, with increasing quantities every few days to compensate for her gradually increasing appetite. Her more recent weights indicate that, as expected, she has lost several kilos through the fasting window associated with the pregnancy and early post-partum period; she weighed in at about 95 kilograms (209 pounds) earlier this week.

But the feeding aspect of Bai Yun’s daily activity is only part of the story. About two weeks ago, Bai Yun began resting for short periods outside the den. As the cub is clearly well fed and content, Bai Yun is responding by reclaiming a bit more of her “me time,” even if it means simply sleeping on her own for a few minutes. Why might she want this?

In our facility, we feed Bai Yun high-fiber biscuits and produce such as carrots or apples. These are high calorie dietary supplements that wild pandas don’t have the luxury of feasting on when they are emerging from the den to fill their bellies. Wild pandas have to subsist entirely on the nutrition provided to them by bamboo, a poor-quality dietary staple. A wild panda dam has to range farther and farther from her den to meet her ever increasing appetite, and this means longer and longer forays away from the den. Bai Yun does not have to spend much time gathering the food she needs to fill her belly, but she may still feel a bit of a drive to be away from the den for longer periods because that is what the panda dam is designed to do.

We have recently offered Bai Yun access to her beloved garden room again during daytime hours. You may recall seeing her planted atop her platform in the room prior to the birth, resting for hours on end. She has responded to the change this week by utilizing the garden room with increasing frequency, and this is another reason why you are seeing less of her in the den; she is taking advantage of the increased space available to her. She is only about 20 to 30 feet (as the panda walks) from the den entrance while in the garden area, but to Bai Yun this may make a world of difference.

Look for her on Camera 15 from time to time.

Suzanne Hall is a senior research technician with the Giant Panda Unit of Applied Animal Ecology/CRES.

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The quarantine process lasts for 30 days or more and it is a procedure to ensure that no new diseases enter the captive program through newly captured wild birds. It is also a way to determine the “base line” diseases that already exist in the wild population before being exposed to the captive birds. Each of the newly arrived birds is assigned a unique band combination, its own cage, and a studbook or registry number. All of the birds are housed on one area in the facility: an area considered off limits to everyone but the person assigned to daily care. The daily routine can be intense: each bird is provided with its own food dish, water dish, clipped fruit, and a cup of nectar. The food dish is full of our captive diet of: fruit cocktail, papaya, egg, birdseed, apple, melon, orange, and other dry food items. The wild palila are also provided with an endless supply of mamane pods, which are their mainstay wild food.

The daily routine begins at 6:30 a.m. Each bird is caught and weighed. Weight loss is the first indication of problems. If the bird loses too much weight, fluids are given subcutaneously. The transition from wild diet to captive diet can be difficult. It was soon apparent that these new palila would need encouragement to learn their new diet, since a reliable mamane supply is neither predictable nor assured. The new birds insisted on eating only mamane pods. We soon learned that as you held the palila in one hand for its daily weights, placed a food item like papaya in front of it, its natural reaction would be to attack, or bite it, and essentially eat from our hands. This feeding technique proved to be very successful and slowly the palila are beginning to eat the captive diet and are beginning to gain back lost weight.

Now that weights are stabilized we can concentrate on the veterinary aspects of their quarantine, which includes taking blood samples and fecal evaluations to ensure their good health and to protect the birds already in our program.

Lisa Komarcyzk is a Research Fellow with the Hawaii Endangered Bird Conservation Program/CRES.

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Now before all of you loyal panda fans get distressed, be assured that this is being done with the well-being of the animals uppermost in everyone’s mind. Bus speakers and passengers will observe a quiet zone past the exhibit area. Drivers have been doing practice runs to acclimate Su Lin and Mei Sheng to the sound of the buses passing, and on this, the first day of the route, I observed “bearly” a cocked ear or upward glance as the buses passed in the morning. Su Lin showed some concern about the arborists doing some final trimming in the canyon, but that was finished quickly and she settled down to a hearty snack. If this is any indication, in a very short time the passing buses will be part of the pandas’ normal auditory environment, of no more notice than the planes landing and taking off at the nearby airport - beginning softly, gradually getting louder, then fading away.

For now, the viewing area is not being directly impacted on most days, but to allow the buses to pass when the viewing area is full, guests may be asked to wait along the panda mural wall where the sidewalk is wider and safer. Our visitor assistance officers will be there to direct and assist visitors — we’re still a work in progress, after all.

The new route will show bus riders where the panda exhibit is located, then gives them a glimpse “behind the scenes” of the working heart of the Zoo! There’s more to a zoo than animals and plants, and our tour guides are ready to offer some insights as to what it takes to keep things humming - and lit, and fed, and operating. If you’re fortunate enough to be visiting the Zoo, I suggest that you take the new bus tour for an interesting perspective on the Zoo you thought you knew!

Ellie Rosenbaum is a panda narrator at the San Diego Zoo.

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His curiosity is rewarding. We observe him with child-like fascination as he explores and gets used to new sights and sounds: everything from trucks to wheelbarrows are all new to him. As our grounds people hose the area, he thinks there is a giant green snake on the ground; he isn’t sure if he wants to kill it or run from it! What joy I find in this job as I get to work with new species and train juvenile animals to go for walks. I can’t believe I get paid to do this! Then it’s back to the office, working on schedules and time cards, and I appreciate the paychecks!

Nicki Boyd is the animal care supervisor at the San Diego Zoo’s Children’s Zoo.

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With all the sad goodbyes, I know that I have left a little something of me behind at the Zoo. This summer has been full of cute koalas and interesting research challenges. As I wrapped up my research projects on estrus studies and activity budgets and enclosure use, I reflect on the results of my research.

Analyzing the data I collected from the outside koala girls, I found that they exhibited an activity budget similar to koalas observed in the wild. Ninety percent of the time they either slept or rested. Of the time they were active, they spent the majority of the time eating. Some life, huh? However, these results are a good sign. The more they sleep, the more it tells us that the koalas are comfortable in their enclosure and adjusting well to being in the public eye. So I think it’s safe to say that the koalas, like true celebrities, are basking in all the adoring attention they receive from the visitors each day. Another interesting tidbit that emerged from my data is that each koala has a favorite perch! Pendicup and Wonne warra both vie for the shady perches under the hut. You can often see them perched next to each other as they claim the perch with the most shade. Orana likes to spend the day in a perch close to the neighboring boy koala, Rokeby. Perhaps she likes spending her days soaking up the sun and enjoying his attention. What a true Southern Californian lifestyle! Yabber, if visitors haven’t already noticed, spends her time on the metal railings near the back fence. She will spend hours perched there and looking out onto the parking lot and all the comings and goings of Zoo visitors and staff.

Besides studying the koala girls on exhibit, I also worked with Cooladi, who is housed in an off- exhibit facility. A large part of the reason why I studied Cooladi was to assist the keepers with their colony management. The San Diego Zoo prides itself on being one of the biggest contributors to captive koala breeding. Keepers need to know when to introduce a male and female for mating. Keepers will look for signs of estrus in a female, such as increased amounts of activity, bellowing, or paying more attention to the males. The study I did with Cooladi looked at any behavior signs associated with her estrus cycle. In particular, I focused on how active she was and the frequency of her bellows. My data indicates that her bellows are associated with increases in activity levels, but not necessarily estrus. More studies are needed to figure out the exact relationship between theses signs. Perhaps next summer’s intern will be able to solve that puzzle!

However, I think the most interesting take-home tidbit is that koalas are four times more active in the early evening than during the day! Often I have heard visitors comment that koalas are boring and they can’t see them perched among the eucalyptus leaves. Once the sun starts setting, the temperature cools and the koalas become whole new animals! They will pace along the perches, munch on leaves, vocalize to each other, and even sprint along the ground.

Hopefully, my studies on the koalas proved useful. The keepers know a little more about the habits of the koalas and visitors now know the best time to see the koalas. Personally, the koalas have taught me a lot, too. They showed me how much diligence and patience it takes to be an observational researcher and how rewarding all those long hours of work can be. They have inspired me to continue exploring conservation biology so that maybe one day in the future I can help save their wild koala relatives in Australia.

I know I will be returning to the Zoo often and all the koala girls will be there to greet me like old friends. Goodbye for now to the koala keepers and all my koala girls: Yabber, Wonne warra, Pendicup, Orana (pictured), and Cooladi!

Maressa Takahashi is a Neeper Summer Student Fellow in the Behavioral Biology Division at CRES.

Listen to an iZoofari Chat with Maressa discussing her studies.

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Recall that we are not taking excessive time with each exam to have all the vets pow-wow around the cub, because we are still minimizing the time the cub is pulled from the den for each exam. That means there is only so much time each exam day for attempting to assess the gender. I know everyone is anxious for information about the sex, but frankly, this is not the most important factor in our medical exams for this animal. What matters most is: ascertaining that the cub is healthy; documenting growth parameters so that future cubs can be plotted against growth parameters, so that the species as a whole might benefit from improved knowlege about what is normal for this species. Gender, while interesting, does not merit the loss of data on these other two points.

The staff in Wolong have upwards of 15 cubs a year to work with, and therefore have a large number of individuals to perfect their gender-determination skills on. Even so, when they get it wrong, they do not have as much scrutiny from the public as do Western zoos; there simply isn’t that kind of access to their facilities. There are certainly times when, even in Wolong, they are not able to determine gender right away. To say otherwise is to oversimplfy the matter.

Please be patient, everyone. This information is not being deliberately withheld. There is no rationale for doing so, and I hope by now you recognize that with all of our blogs, chats, and videos we are doing our level best to provide panda fans with as much information as possible. This is simply a matter of wanting to be right. It would not be prudent to release information thought to be right, only to find out later that we were wrong. As soon as we know the gender with certainty, we will inform everyone.

Suzanne Hall is a senior research technician with the Giant Panda Unit of Applied Animal Ecology/CRES.

Listen to an iZoofari Chat with Suzanne, recorded September 7, 2007.

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What a cutie. The black and white markings are very strong now, and there is a coat of wispy long white hair covering it. Its fat little belly is rotund, and an adult man’s hand around the abdomen does not quite span the width between the cub’s shoulders and hips. The cub appears quite strong, holding its head up and briefly sustaining its weight on its limbs when placed down on the exam table by the vet.

How does this cub compare to Bai Yun’s other cubs? According to data compiled by our nutritionist, Dr. Mike Schlegel, at 34 days of age this cub weighs more (at 1,466 grams or 51.7 ounces) than Mei Sheng at 36 days and Hua Mei at 39 days. Only Su Lin (at 35 days) was heavier and only Su Lin was longer (by 1.6 centimeters or 0.6 inches) than this cub. Additionally, this youngster is at the top of the growth curve for all of the cubs we have had born here. Translation: this is one hefty panda cub!

Our littlest panda made no noises during the exam today, which continues to distinguish it from any of Bai Yun’s previous offspring. Despite the 15 or 20 measurements taken by Dr. Schlegel today, including girth and limb metrics, the youngster didn’t make a peep. Already, it seems, it is adapting to life at the San Diego Zoo with nonchalance. Does that mean this cub has its father’s mellow demeanor? Time will surely tell.

I know it must be frustrating for everyone that the Panda Cam has been down for a while. I can only say that the power outage we had a few weeks back did cause some damage to some of our electronic equipment. Even one of the cameras in Bai Yun’s den was affected. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to fix that camera until much later, when Bai Yun has abandoned this den and moved into a different phase of life with her youngster. The good news is that the Panda Cam will be back in operation much sooner than that, and our IT folks are working on that now. In the meantime, enjoy watching the video of today’s cub exam, as I know it will be posted shortly.

Suzanne Hall is a senior research technician with the Giant Panda Unit of Applied Animal Ecology/CRES.

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Chinook, Kalluk, and Tatqiq are still cohabitating well and continuing to strengthen their relationships. Size wise, Tatqiq and Chinook are similar, so I have to observe their behavior in order to figure out “who is who.” They also have a more gentle play between them. Don’t get me wrong: polar bear play is rough, but the girls interact with each other more delicately. I’ve even caught them napping together out on the point of the exhibit. Kalluk, however, is obviously bigger than the girls. He’s almost up to 900 pounds (408 kilograms) and still growing. He’s also the one that Chinook uses as a squeak toy. Yes, she lures him to the shallows where she then proceeds to pounce on him repeatedly. She even lets him think he got away every once in a while.

Thankfully for our bears, they don’t have a thick blubber layer on them like they would in the wild. Their pool is also chilled to a nice refreshing 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit (12.7 to 15.5 degrees Celsius). They actually seem to fair better than me when it comes to a hot spell. But I guess that goes back to that whole “fat” thing again. What most people don’t know is that when Polar Bear Plunge was built, the water was initially chilled much lower than it is now. But the bears refused to go into the pool; it was too uncomfortable for them. That’s why the bears in the wild aren’t very active in the summer months: they are conserving their energy so they don’t overheat.

But fortunately for us, that doesn’t apply to our bears. They are well adjusted to San Diego weather. We also keep them at a healthy weight, which we monitor about every two weeks. So they keep fairly busy year round. But hopefully it will start to cool off some as we approach the fall season, not only for our sake but for the sake of the polar bears in the wild.

Kelly Murphy is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

Read Kelly’s previous blog, Chillin’ at the Plunge.

Take a polar bear adventure with the San Diego Zoo’s WorldWild Tours.

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Every morning, the hippos were brought in off exhibit so we could vacuum the pool and clean the beach. While they were inside, Jabba and Funani ate breakfast in separate bedrooms. This gave keepers a chance to get a good look at each of them up close. By 9 a.m. the exhibit was ready and our duo could resume rekindling their old flame.

For the next few days, other than a couple of big splashes and grand displays, Jabba and Funani seemed to be getting along swimmingly. Within a week, Jabba had managed to make his way up to the side of the rock next to Funani and as long as he didn’t get too close to her, she let him stay. Every day Jabba managed to get a little closer until finally the two love bugs were seen cuddling side by side.

It’s been a long four years for Jabba and Funani, but already it looks like they’ve reestablished their old ties. Next time you’re at the Zoo, be sure to stop by and visit our new couple!

Nerissa Foland is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

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