Initially I was amazed with how much she had grown and how mobile she was. When I last worked in Panda Canyon, she was still tucked away in her den and did not yet have the ability to move around, much less walk. When I saw her next, not only was she in the outdoor exhibit; she was up in the tree: high up in the tree! At first I was concerned, but then my fellow keepers told me that she does that all the time; the trick is to get her to come down.

Bai Yun seemed comfortable with the keepers and focused on her food more than her little black-and-white bundle of joy. When Zhen Zhen was younger, the slightest strange noise would send Bai Yun into a heightened state of mind, but now she seemed primarily unaffected by the commotion around her and her cub.

As we started raking up the morning bamboo, Zhen Zhen made her way down from the tree. I was impressed with her coordination as she traversed down to the ground. She waddled over to us and wanted to play. Initially she wasn’t sure if I could be trusted and gave me a sideways look. But after she sniffed my hand, her curiosity and playfulness took over and she climbed into my lap as if we were old friends. Maybe she remembered my smell? Maybe not. I let her play with her food bucket. She wrestled it around and clumsily pounced on it. Three minutes of that and she was bored, so I gave her a small piece of apple to practice gnawing on. Apples win as one of the panda’s favorite treats.

All fun must come to an end, so we left the little bear to bamboozle with her mom. I am looking forward to another meeting with our smallest giant panda.

Heidi Trowbridge is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

We surveyed stretches of the Kava and Chelomdza Rivers that are within the Magadan Zapovednik, the Tauy River, and the coast west of the village of Balagonoe, including Motykley Bay and Talan Island. Of the 30-some territories on the rivers, although all were occupied, only one had produced a chick. We think this lack of productivity in this year was due to heavy rains that may have affected survival of eggs and hatchlings or influenced the hunting of the adults. In contrast, the great majority of the 20 or so territories that we surveyed on the coast had large chicks. We fitted five nestlings with GPS satellite transmitters and left them to grow up, fledge, and start their first migration south.

So, summer passed and migration time came. Four of the five birds we fitted with tags in 2007 left their nest sites. One bird apparently died or lost its tag near the nest. We should find out when the weather clears and we can visit the site this summer. One bird died at the Arman River and one died on the coastal slope of the Sheltinga Bay. We do not know whether humans were involved in these losses, but this part of the Arman River is where caviar-harvesting operations occur. At these places there are lots of discarded fish carcasses, meaning plenty of food, so we cannot imagine them dying of hunger!

Two birds started on a “normal” migration. Well, one did; the other (#42678) made a big victory lap around various rivers to the north and east of its natal range before setting off on proper migration around the end of October. By late November, this bird was near the village of Fedorovskoe where, the evidence from the tag’s transmissions suggests, it was apparently killed in the vicinity of the village. This village and the nearby area of sea is under the nominal protection of the Dzugdzhur Strict State Nature Reserve, and this incident may serve to illustrate how difficult it is to police these places.

So, at year’s end we were left with a single, live bird from 2007 that was transmitting, and that bird’s situation at that time was not bright because it was sitting on the Okhota River, some distance inland. Winter was closing in and food was likely getting scarce. In mid-January, after a big storm, this bird made a “hopeful hop” back to the coast on Cape Shestakov, only about 15 miles (25 kilometers) from its natal site. We were hopeful that some miracle would allow this bird to overwinter (the winter had been relatively mild and satellite images showed some open water near its last location), but alas, this bird apparently perished soon thereafter. (In 1997 we also tracked some eagles, and one bird behaved in exactly the same manner. Sadly, it apparently perished when it found itself without food and too far from ice-free water where it might hunt. Back then one could almost feel winter closing in on it as time passed. It survived until the end of January.).

For most of 2008, we have been tracking the only bird that appears to be alive and with a working transmitter, #65332. It spent its winter (early July to mid-February) on the second-most southerly Kuril Island, Iturup. It has just made a move to the southerly most Kuril island, so we may be seeing the start of the migration. Fingers crossed!

We will be heading out to Magadan again and supporting the work of the Magadan Zapovednik in 2008. We will also be running a pilot effort in Kamchatka. We will also make a start on some DNA work that might reveal information important to the conservation of Steller’s sea eagles and other eagles. We are currently running a similar project on golden and white-tailed eagles. Have a look: golden eagles and white-tailed eagles.

Note: Although other eagles seem to have either perished or lost their tags, we continue to hear them broadcasting. Theoretically, we can use these locations to find the tag, but this is one of the remotest areas of the world, so this is sometimes not easy. However, it seems that at least one of our contacts may have located a tag because it suddenly moved in early January. Hopefully, we will hear soon! That said, we are still very concerned (and a little surprised) at the number of eagles that were apparently lost to human persecution.

Dr. Mike McGrady is a researcher with Natural Research Limited, partnered with the San Diego Zoo.
Here’s more information about the Steller’s Sea Eagle project…

It was definitely touch-and-go there for a while, (see Laura’s blog, Keeping Meerkat Pups in the Den), but the pups are proving to be healthy and happy. One of our little ones has a left front paw deformity. We are not sure what the problem is, but this little one is getting around just fine.

Once the sun rises in the morning, all 12 of the group are out sunning their bellies. The adults are standing up on their tippy toes and the pups are sitting with legs tucked under, staying warm. As the day progresses the play begins. The pups all can run now, which is quite funny! Whenever I enter the exhibit, everyone comes running with the hope of a bag of mealworms or a box of crickets. About 10 seconds after the adults are circling my feet, the pups come charging across the exhibit. Actually, is it more like running/tripping. They run with their tails straight up just like the adults. Their vocalizations are also quite loud: constant barking that gets louder when they are with the adults.

They love to rest in the sun and snuggle with their babysitters. The young females from the last litter spend a lot of time with the pups. They seem to have so much energy, and then they will just stop and pass out in the dirt—too tired to run around anymore. I have been trying to acclimate them to me and my presence in the exhibit. The adult meerkats sit on my knees, dig on my shoes, and fall asleep in my lap sometimes when it is cold. The pups have been investigating my shoes and pants; it is a good start.

If you have been by the exhibit, you may have noticed some hair missing from the pups. I have a small hair trimmer that I use to shave certain spots so we can tell them apart. The pups are not happy when I shave them and Ngami, their mother, is always concerned. But they are returned to the group with no harm done, just a few shorter hairs.

The group is getting along quite well, which is nice to see. Ngami and Kasane still have their small fights, but everyone is taking turns with the pups and sharing. Stop by Elephant Mesa any time the sun is out to get a glimpse of these cuties. Soon they’ll be as big as their older brothers and sisters!

Laura Weiner is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

The first step for the Horticulture Department was to begin salvaging almost all the plants in the former Horn & Hoof Mesa area. Those 7 acres (2.8 hectares) of the Zoo contained up to 95 percent of the Zoo’s Aloe collection as well as many other succulents and several of the more important specimens of our Cycad collection. For the next several months, the LIMS crew of seven gardeners worked just ahead of the bulldozers to remove and relocate as many plants as we could. Some of the plants were transplanted to improve other parts of the Zoo; the narrow bed at the top of Cat Canyon was re-landscaped with not only plants from the construction zone but also boulders and the display case for our caudiciform plants.

Other plants had to be put in pots and stored until the project has progressed to the point where the plants can be returned to the site. So far, the transplants have gone very well with very few unsuccessful moves.

Whenever accessioned plants are ever moved (or worse, die) they must be recorded. Each plant has an embossed aluminum tag that, with any luck, is the plant’s companion for life. The tag has the plant’s name and accession number embossed on it. For every accessioned plant moved during this project, the paper work was properly updated. In the case of the plants put in storage, the paper work will have to be done again when the plants are returned to Elephant Odyssey. Some of the trees salvaged from the project can be seen in boxes along the north side of Cat Canyon road.

Mike Masterson is a lead gardener at the San Diego Zoo.

Here is more information about Elephant Odyssey…

Impunga celebrated his first birthday on March 11 with an elephant-sized cake made of ice blocks, browse, hay, and vegetables. His favorite part seemed to be the frozen alfalfa pellets, and after he had his fill the other elephants were able to join the party and helped him finish it off.

Six-month-old Phakamile, aka Kamile, is learning that her keepers don’t just mean lots of fun scratches and games. They also have that most wonderful treat: food pellets!! She is quickly learning that a keeper’s whistle means she did something fantastic. Her older sister, Khosi, who is 1½, is a good role model to follow. She is exploring the pools and has been brave enough to go out doggy paddling with the rest of the babies, although she got a rude awakening when she stepped off the last step into deep water! You can regularly find all of the calves splashing around in the small pool near the Elephant Overlook, and we are even starting to put water in the larger “adult” pool, though we are not filling it all the way yet.

As summer approaches and the weather warms up, all of the elephants are enjoying several new dirt piles and mud bogs we have placed in the yard. It is not uncommon to see all of the calves playing together, rolling around on top of one another and competing for the best patch of dirt. Sometimes they exhaust themselves and eventually lay so still you might mistake them for just another boulder in the yard. They can be inseparable at times, their own little herd of miniature elephants exuberantly running all over the yard! While they are exhausting to watch, their friendships no doubt make it easier on our many mothers who can count on getting a break or two throughout the day while an auntie takes over babysitting duties.

As Mabhulane, or Mabu, continues to enjoy being the only adult male in the herd, we are looking forward to extending our research into the nursing habits and development of elephant calves. After all, collecting data means we get to be entertained by the cutest little babies around! To see our tiny tots, stop by the Elephant Overlook or the Pachyderm Patio at the Wild Animal Park. You never know what antics you might see!

Brittany Archer is a senior keeper at the Wild Animal Park
Jeff Andrews is animal care manager of elephants at the Wild Animal Park
Fred Bercovitch is head of the San Diego Zoo’s Behavioral Biology Division

*Lungile was being treated for a postpartum infection after giving birth in November 2007. Sadly, her calf passed away in February 2008. More…

Blackie is a beautiful bear. Although he is called a brown bear, his coat has a lustrous black color to it, hence his name. He weighs 873 pounds (396 kilos), and measures 4.5 feet (138 centimeters) from wrist to shoulders when on all fours. But once you see him standing on his hind feet, his size amazes you. He is clearly over 6 feet tall! He’s huge!

Although he is big, he is very gentle. He likes his romaine lettuce and apple slices and takes them delicately as you pass pieces through the fencing to him. But don’t get me wrong: he’s a bear. The other morning keeper Cathy had him locked over on one side of his enclosure while she cleaned the other. She began to place his food in a pile when Blackie suddenly stood up, banged the gate, and huffed! It was a loud and scary sound that sent everyone running into the compound to see what the commotion was all about. Blackie was telling Cathy that she needed to hurry along, but he was also reminding us that he was a bear and a wild animal. Once Cathy gave Blackie access to his second room where the food was, he calmly walked up to the food, took a few bites, and then stretched out in the sun for a nap. He had just made a statement that we all heard loud and clear!

Last week, Blackie had his quarantine exam, which consisted of a complete check up, X rays, and teeth cleaning. During his exam, we learned that he had a few cracked teeth (that were filled), some arthritis in his hind legs, and that he could stand to lose a few pounds. But over all he’s in good shape and not doing too shabby for a 24-year-old bear.

We took this opportunity to take a few measurements, too. Blackie measures almost 7 feet (207 centimeters) from the base of his head to his tail, his head is 1.8 feet (55 centimeters) long from his nose to the base of his head, his lower canine tooth measures 3.5 centimeters (that’s almost 1.5 inches), and his rear foot pad is 10.5 inches (27 centimeters). And one claw measured 2.5 inches (6 centimeters). That’s a big bear! We all thought he seemed much bigger than our old friend, Spanky.

We’re happy to have Blackie back. And once he finishes his quarantine time at the hospital, he’ll be back on Zoo grounds where all his old friends can see him again.

Yvette M. Kemp is a senior hospital keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

What has happened to our normally mellow Su Lin? Could it be that as she grows up, she’s becoming more like her elder half-sister, Hua Mei? Mei was famous for her rampaging romps around the exhibits, especially when displeased by the bamboo selection or the order in which the exhibit bears were being fed (meaning she wasn’t first!). Guests were utterly charmed and Hua Mei eventually began to play to the crowd as she grew.

Whatever the reason for Su Lin’s lively display, it was a lot of energy expended by a usually placid bear and a joy to watch.

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

In 2006, we fitted five nestling Steller’s sea eagles with satellite-received transmitters. The birds fledged in August from their nests and started to live their life outside of their nests. Four of these birds started on their migration, one most probably died at the hands of humans near its nest, roughly one month after fledging. We found the transmitter (PTT 65629) near the nest site in 2007. Its harness had been cut.

Photo credit: Natural Research Ltd.

As we tracked the others, two also seemed to be victims of human activity. One tag (65633) stopped transmitting near a village on the Russian coast south of Vladivostok. We later found out that it was probably shot at the border of the Botchanskiy Strict Nature Reserve, in an area clear cut in the 1990s. Botchanskiy and Magadan reserves were planned in 1984; Botchanskiy was established in 1995 after the clearing up of logging operations, and it is the northern-most realm of the Siberian tiger. The other tag (PTT 65631) is, even now, transmitting from the edge of a fishing village of Chumikan near the mouth of the Amur River in Russia. The eagle was apparently shot at a fishery near the mouth of a small river some 12 miles (20 kilometers) northeast from the Chumikan village (not far from the Antykan river). A third bird that did start its migration was also “lost” near Shantar Island (probably on ice floe near a small island called Sivuchi Kamni (Sea Lion’s Rocks).

So, we were left with a single active transmitter on a live bird by the end of 2006. This was disappointing but gave us pause because of so many of the tags being “lost” due to human persecution in this remote part of the world! However, this remaining bird (ID 65362) was to provide us with some joy as we tracked it through its first summer and into its second winter, but let’s not get ahead of the story!

Later that year, 65362 migrated south along the Russian mainland and jumped across to Sakhalin Island (directly north of Hokkaido, Japan) in late November 2006. So, while Americans were sitting down to large bird dinners on Thanksgiving, this large bird had thankfully made it to Sakhalin. From there it continued south, crossing the La Perouse Strait to Hokkaido around Christmas time. It then fly across a short and maybe frozen stretch of sea to two islands off the northwest coast of Hokkaido, Rishiri-to and Rabun-to, where it spent its first winter.

In early April 2007, 65632 headed north across the La Perouse Strait again for its first summer as an independent eagle! It spent most of the spring in southern Sakhalin, and then in early June 2007 it pushed farther north and about half way up the eastern seaboard. We were a bit concerned about this because this is in the heart of the oil and gas development area of Sakhalin. It seemed to us that this place was potentially dangerous.

In early October 2007, the young eagle headed north to the northern tip of Sakhalin for about two weeks before returning to the eastern seaboard. In early November 2007, it headed south again and crossed onto Hokkaido around November 11. Rather than returning to where it wintered in 2006-2007, in this winter it headed along the northeast coast of Hokkaido and then jumped back into Russian territory on southernmost of the Kuril Islands, Kunashir on November 18. In early December, it made another hop, this time to the next island to the north, Iturup, and there it was at the turn of the New Year.

Well, where does that leave us as we enter 2008? Somewhat of a surprise and of no small concern now is that a large proportion of the birds we tagged in the last years have apparently died, and in most cases, the culprits in those deaths are humans! Steller’s sea eagles face many threats. There was the lead poisoning threat of the 1990s, and there is the constant pressure (as yet unmeasured) of purported overfishing. The fossil fuel energy developments of Sakhalin and the wind farms of Hokkaido have been a worry. We always knew that there would be some direct human persecution. Although few people live in these areas, most have guns and many are very bored. Despite this and because not everyone out there shoots eagles, if our sample is representative, we should be worried!

Stay tuned for part II for details on a group we tagged in the summer of 2007. Please send a comment if you have any questions about Steller’s sea eagles or this project or just want to discuss things. In due course we will be publishing these data, but a great benefit can be had from raising public consciousness in Steller’s sea eagles and the environment on the western Pacific Rim.

Dr. Mike McGrady is a researcher with Natural Research Limited, partnered with the San Diego Zoo.
Here’s more information about the Steller’s Sea Eagle project…

The breeding center tends to be lively if one of the giant pandas is interested in breeding. There are ten exhibits in the breeding center and I make a stop at each one to see if I can record any males bleating or females chirping. This is the perfect time of day to collect recordings because the only background noise I have to compete with is the whistling of birds in the trees of the steep mountainsides.

Once the keepers arrive, I head off to breakfast, because the only thing giant pandas can focus on now is their massive pile of bamboo. By the time I return, the giant pandas are interested in each other again and tend to start vocalizing. During my check-in with the keepers I make sure they haven’t moved any of the giant pandas during morning cleaning. This process always involves a lesson in Chinese pronunciation, sign language, and my list of all the giant pandas here in Wolong. Everyone involved in this process always ends up laughing by the time we are done! Throughout of the rest of the day I watch for changes in any of the giant panda’s behavior that could be signs of wanting to breed and listen for bleats and chirps throughout the facility.

Jennifer Keating is working in Wolong, China as a research scientist for the San Diego Zoo. Read more about her project in the blog, Look Who’s Talking: New Research on Panda Vocal Communication.

Since 2005, Polar Bears International and animal care staff and researchers from the San Diego Zoo have been working together to better understand how human disturbance may impact polar bears. Our projects focus on the sensory ecology of polar bears, an area of polar bear biology that has been little studied over the years. Sensory ecology is an area of study that focuses on how animals’ senses allow them to interact dynamically with the environment and other animals. We are focusing on how polar bears communicate, both by sound and smell. Describing the fundamentals of these systems in polar bears will allow us to better understand how human activities and climate change may impact polar bears.

Humans can make a lot of noise! Sometimes, the noise we make can disrupt animal populations by inhibiting their ability to hear each other when they really need to or by stressing them to a point that their behavior and physiology are impacted negatively. Sometimes the noise we make bothers us more than it bothers them. In the end, the impact of our activities is best understood through systematic, scientific study. For the polar bear, an area of concern in recent years has been the noise associated with oil exploration and related activities on Alaska’s North Slope. The great concern centers around the fact that there are tremendous petroleum stores in the same area that is home to the one of the largest populations of land-based polar bear maternity dens in North America.

Our research into how noise impacts polar bears has three major components: How sensitive is polar bear hearing? How important is vocal communication to polar bears? What exactly does the noise produced by industrial activities in the Arctic look like and how well does it permeate polar bear dens?

We are about ¾ of the way through the data collection phase of our hearing study. Working closely with researchers at Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute, we are beginning to better understand just how sensitive polar bear ears are.

Next week, I’ll get into the nitty-gritty of what it takes to give a polar bear a hearing test.

Megan Owen is a conservation program specialist in the San Diego Zoo’s Applied Animal Ecology Division.