Armed with some show-and-tell items, information pamphlets, and 50 plush orangutan toys, we had no idea what to expect from the thousands of anticipated guests visiting that weekend.

We were very excited about this pilot program and we wanted to get people excited about conservation. To get their attention, we decorated an elaborate booth filled with cute orangutan photos and canvas art pieces made by our resident Bornean orangutan, Janey. People were naturally drawn to our booth. Once they approached, we talked about the palm oil industry and its direct effect on the ecology of many animals in Indonesia, specifically Bornean and Sumatran orangutans.

The large corporate logging industries are destroying the forests in Indonesia at a fast rate. According to FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) reports, between the years 2000 and 2005, Indonesia had the second-most cleared tropical rain forest in the world. This diverse ecosystem is home to the only great ape that occurs outside of Africa, the orangutan. Other species include the Sumatran tiger, pygmy rhino, clouded leopards, and pygmy forest elephants.

Unfortunately, Indonesian rain forest is prime land for the world’s second-most produced crop oil in the world. The African oil palm Elaeis guineensis was introduced to Southeast Asia in the early 1600s. Roughly 90 percent of the palm oil produced comes from the Indonesian region. The problem comes into focus once we begin to see how unaware consumers contribute to this issue. Most Americans have no idea how many products in their home actually contain palm oil and palm-based products: detergents, soaps, cosmetics, and household products contain palm oil. One out of every five food items we buy at the grocery store, especially baked goods, contain palm oil. Other wording that is used in conjunction with palm oil is palmate, palm kernel, and even vegetable oil. There is little accountability from the large companies on where their palm oil is coming from. It’s cheap to produce, has a favorable taste for food items, and it’s a great preservative in many products.

Secondarily, the boom in biofuel as an alternative source of energy is using palm oil to run its machines. This low emission alternative comes with a high price as forests around the world are being destroyed at an alarming rate.

By becoming conscious consumers, we can have a huge positive impact on what goes on halfway around the world. Raising awareness and being able to pass this on was the message to the hundreds of people that came by our conservation booth. It was exhilarating and exhausting, but I enjoyed every second! On behalf of Orangutan Outreach, we collected over $2,000 in cash donations and another $2,000 in online adoptions. One hundred percent of the contributions went directly to benefit over 650 orphaned orangutans that lost their mothers due to the palm oil industry in Borneo.

Juan Fernandez is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

Watch our orangutans and siamangs daily on Ape Cam…

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Mao Mao and I go way back to 2000 when she was rescued from the wild by local farmers. She arrived at Wolong, shy and timid, barking anxiously every time she saw someone walk by. She settled in during the coming days and weeks and I became quite enamored with her. She had a unique personality and was always a bit wilder than the others, so I dubbed her “Wild Thing,” a name that stuck for about six months until she was properly named. She was part of our first enrichment study with the cubs which, at the time, were kept in a small enclosure. A few years later they built a new nursery with a large yard, trees, pools, and climbing structures. Before that, we provided the cubs with different kinds of novel objects, such as branches or bark, that stimulated the senses and evoked play. The data were informative, but it was also just really fun to watch! A burlap sack stuffed with straw quickly became a wrestling partner, providing hours of fun for the cubs.

Mao Mao actually began her life at the center as a “he.” Young pandas are notoriously difficult to sex and we got this one wrong. Three years later, in 2003, we realized our error when she began to show female-typical signs of estrus. She became a star breeder, producing five cubs over the next three seasons. Our research assistant, Jennifer Keating, witnessed her mating again this spring, so sadly she may have been pregnant as well. Because she was unrelated to the other pandas at the center, she was very valuable genetically. Her death is a loss for the breeding program, but strategically, at least, she was well represented before she died. Of course, she still holds a sentimental place in my heart and it makes me sad to think that she is gone.

Ron Swaisgood is the co-head of the San Diego Zoo’s Giant Panda Conservation Unit.

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Our pandas have mister fans, water pools, and plenty of shade so that they can sit back and eat their bamboo in comfort. Also, animals do have the ability to adapt. After all, we even have polar bears that live comfortably at the Zoo!

And how about a cub update? Zhen Zhen is still spending much of the day high up in the tree (as pictured above). However, she has been coming down from the tree from time to time to engage in social play with Bai Yun. Unfortunately for Zhen Zhen, she seems to often catch mom right in the middle of a feeding bout and Bai Yun is more interested in her bamboo than playing with Zhen Zhen. Developmentally, our Zhen Zhen seems to be quite the advanced little panda. She is very good at handling objects and has been engaged in a fair amount of bamboo play, handling the bamboo with a lot of skill for a cub of her age. It is not uncommon to see Zhen Zhen sitting near Bai Yun, amusing herself with a stalk of bamboo, or for Zhen Zhen to grab a little stalk and take it with her up the tree to gnaw on. Most of the time, the bamboo eventually spills out of her mouth but Zhen Zhen has been starting to ingest some bamboo. The keepers started to see bamboo in her stool a bit earlier than any of the other three cubs we have had here at the Zoo.

The transition from nursing to bamboo feeding does not happen overnight. Cubs begin to chew on bamboo and play with bamboo as practice before they actually start ingesting it. They mock their mothers and learn from them to acquire the skills needed to fill their bellies with bamboo, whether it’s learning to efficiently gather all the leaves off of a stalk or strip off the outer layer of the culm to get to the more edible inside. If you have ever seen Bai Yun go through her bamboo pile, you know how down pat her bamboo eating techniques are. She is a great role model for her cubs to follow. As Zhen Zhen begins to eat more and more bamboo and nurses less and less with Bai Yun, she will begin to compete with Bai Yun for bamboo, which is inevitable. I remember watching some entertaining sessions with Su Lin when she got to this point. Bai Yun would hold her cub in place with one paw and eat away holding bamboo in the other paw while the cub ran in place, trying to get to the bamboo pile. I have even seen Bai Yun and her cub in tug-of-war situations over a bamboo stalk!

Su Lin has been as energetic as ever since she has been moved to the back classroom exhibit. I commonly see her hanging from the tree or gamboling around. Gao Gao has also taken his move to the right-side exhibit in stride. Both of their olfactory investigation greatly increased the day of their exhibit swap. Giant pandas leave scent marks, a kind of chemical communication in which the pandas can leave information about themselves for other pandas. So naturally, switching Gao Gao and Su Lin into each other’s previous exhibit created curiosity to investigate what information could be learned about the panda that was previously inhabiting the area.

Another great thing about summer is Nighttime Zoo, which starts June 28. We look forward to seeing all of you here over the summer for extended viewing hours!

Michelle Thompson is a research technician at the San Diego Zoo.

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There were even a few opportunities to record vocalizations from the six-month-old giant pandas. During the summer I will be processing these data and I will make sure to post an update when I am finished.

On a different note, while I was in Wolong I was able to see how much the San Diego Zoo has impacted the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda. My first experience was in the amount of respect the research center had for me just because I was from the San Diego Zoo. They provided help for my project constantly and I couldn’t have done it without them. The research center had spent such a great deal of time working with Ron Swaisgood in past years that they have developed a level of trust and respect with the research he conducts. Being able to say that Ron was my boss made people trust that I knew what I was doing and that it would be productive research.

Rarely in life do we have the opportunity to witness the effects of donations, research, and advice given to an organization. The China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda has blossomed because of all our help. Doug Myers, the San Diego Zoo’s executive director, saw the potential and need in China for the help that the Zoo could provide for the giant pandas. The facility in Wolong reflected, in their grounds, exhibits, training, animal husbandry, and research, that the San Diego Zoo and donors around the world had made an impact. Even though the facility is in trouble now because of the earthquake, I know that it will survive and move forward because the San Diego Zoo and its friends will to continue to help the giant pandas.

Jennifer Keating is a research scientist at the San Diego Zoo.

Read Jennifer’s previous blog, Wolong: Will Fei Fei Find a Mate?

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Zoo members and visitors often just happen upon what I consider to be the best day of the month at the San Diego Zoo—Plant Day! Those of us who work in the Horticulture Department focus on the Zoo’s flora every day of the week, but we share with the public more specifically the third Friday of each month. Come join us for a terrific day of Botanical Bus Tours and Orchid Odyssey some time over the summer. You won’t be disappointed.

Plant Day at the Zoo includes the opening of our orchid greenhouse to the public. Janette Gerrity, our orchidist, along with some very knowledgeable volunteers, will tour guests through the spectacular collection of plants from Orchidaceae, the largest of the flowering plant families. The Zoo is a rescue center for orchids that are confiscated at the border, and over the years we have built up a spectacular collection. You will be astonished by the beauty and diversity of the flowers.

We also offer Botanical Bus Tours each month on Plant Day. These are, so far, free with admission! Each tour is led by one of our Horticulture staff. Those who lead the tours each have their own unique style and focus, so you could take a tour each month and get a different perspective. Of course, along with that different outlook, depending on the tour guide, we also have new plants in bloom each month, so that adds to the diversity and freshness of each tour. The Botanical Bus Tours have become extremely popular, so get there a little early to reserve your place. Tours get under way at 2 p.m. and load at the bus unloading area. Turn right after entering the front gate and follow the signs.

If you are unable to make it to the Zoo on Plant Day (our next one is June 20, 2008), consider stopping by and picking up a self-guided walking tour map. There are maps available at the entrance and also near the Orchid House. Just past the Kopje, make a left. There you will find a display board with many tour maps covering everything from Fern Canyon to Ficus and Palms.

Other Plant Day Happenings
Throughout the year, we will have events scheduled such as Tropical Fruit Tasting, Pruning Demonstrations, and Botanical Beverages. Check out our “Plant of the Month” near the dining area across from the Reptile House.

For additional Plant Day information and dates…

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

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In the meantime, they delight themselves and our guests with their individual play as well as their roughhousing with each other.

While Kalluk has always been known for his more destructive play, Tatqiq remains the princess, very graceful and deliberate in her actions. It’s Chinook (pictured), however, who has decided to come up with a new game of her own. And not with the other bears, but with me! As you may know, a few times a week Chinook has overnight exhibit access. On many of these occasions, she is given her cow femur bone to help pass the time. Since the bears’ regular diet is often used for shifting and training, we try to vary the presentation of some of the other food items we may offer. There are only so many options with a bone, due to its shape and size, which still allow accessibility for the bears. So I’ve tried to be more creative, and Chinook has shown her appreciation.

For a while, it seemed that if I just placed the bone somewhere on land, I would often find it at the bottom of the pool the next morning (sometimes difficult to fish out, but always favored over the times she would hide it in the stash pipe where I can’t get to it at all). It’s fairly typical for all of the bears to turn their bone into a toy when they’re done chewing all the good morsels off of it. Because of this, Kalluk is not supposed to have bones on exhibit because of that aforementioned destructive nature. So, there’s always pressure to retrieve the bone after Chinook has had one on exhibit!

Hoping that Chinook would be less inclined to play hide and seek with it if she had to “work” to get it, I tried hiding it among some of the deadwood one night. It was still fairly obvious, but she did have to traverse the climbing structure to get at it. Of course, it didn’t take her long before she found it and was able to pull it free. I at least went home with a little satisfaction. The next morning, I shifted her off exhibit and was going about my morning routine. My co-worker that day decided to clean and prepare the exhibit. When I went out to ask her a question, I noticed the bone sitting among the same piece of deadwood where I had placed it the night before. I just assumed my colleague had done this. It wasn’t until she commented about not seeing a bone on the exhibit that I realized it wasn’t my partner but rather Chinook who so cleverly replaced it where she had found it. I chalked it up to coincidence and definitely left this day with a smile on my face.

The next time it was Chinook’s turn to go out overnight, we had just received some palm browse. I made a nice bed for her out of burlap sacks and palm leaves in the back of the exhibit where she likes to sleep. Her bone was nestled in the plant material. The next morning, there the bone was, conveniently lying on top of her bed and quite easily retrieved. This didn’t surprise me much, as I figured she just had a quiet evening and lazily dined while she slept. Yet I still took note that it was left for me in the same spot I had placed it for her. But it was the next story that really had me shaking my head.

There is a log in the exhibit that floats in the main pool. It is tethered with a chain so that it can’t drift too far from shore and be used as a battering ram. I ever so carefully crawled out onto the log as far as I could reach and balanced the bone on top. It was just far enough out that Chinook couldn’t reach it by land and had no choice but to knock it off and retrieve it in the water. Again, it didn’t take her long to figure this out. So, can you guess what I found when I returned the next morning? Yep, there was that bone, carefully balancing atop the floating log just as I had left it for Chinook. Fortunately for me, I have tools I can use to retrieve it rather than going for an early morning swim!

The intelligence and creativity of these bears never cease to amaze me. Just when you think you have an understanding of their thought process, you realize you’ve only hit the tip of the iceberg (no pun intended!). I’m not sure if Chinook was trying to challenge me in the same way I was her, or if she was trying to let me know it wasn’t challenging enough and that even she could do that. Either way, I’m sure we were both amused and appreciated what we were trying to offer the other!

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

Listen to an iZoofari Chat with Kelly…Listen to iZoofari Chats about bears, featuring keepers and researchers…

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Consequently, the wind conditions within a condor’s habitat are likely one of the principle determinants of condor foraging ability, which is why condor introduction programs have been sited in mountainous regions with strong updrafts. Enhanced understanding of the meteorological conditions that determine the flying ability and foraging success of condors is vital to tailoring reintroduction programs to the bird’s habitat needs. No formal analysis of the characteristics of the winds that shape condor movements has yet been conducted.

We recently installed the first of an array of remote weatherstations that will be placed throughout the expanding ranges of the condors that are being reintroduced to Baja California, Mexico. The units include an anemometer to measure wind speed and direction and a thermometer to measure air temperature. The weather data is stored in a data recorder and can be downloaded at the end of the recording period (limited to about six months of memory capacity) using a handheld shuttle. Rather than choosing arbitrary locations, the sites where the weatherstation are to be installed were selected by overlaying the home ranges of 14 birds that were GPS-tracked for three years. This way the climate data we record will be taken from habitats that have actually been used intensively by the birds themselves. The big challenge to our team is that the weatherstation sites are in very remote and inaccessible areas, which presents considerable logistic difficulties for equipment installation and data acquisition.

The site for the installation of our first weatherstation was only half a mile from the Baja base camp, which certainly made it easy for us to carry the units and all of the equipment needed to set them up. Once at the site we selected a suitable tree on which to mount the weather sensors. The stations must be installed well off the ground to sample the strongest wind flows while minimizing ground-based turbulence and interference. We also need the units to be high enough to deter interference by curious animals (and curious people!). We needed climbing ropes and harnesses to bolt the unit 33 feet (10 meters) off the ground onto the main trunk of the tree. This was not an easy task, and was complicated by the fact that each unit must also be precisely calibrated to compass directions, often while the units were recording wind velocities of more than 33 feet (10 meters) per second.

The second weatherstation was placed at Venado Blanco, at the crest of a steep ridge overlooking a series of valleys back toward the condor campsite, which was about three miles to the southwest. The reintroduced condors have been tracked coming to this site many times over the past three years, and during our journey to the site we encountered a herd of deer and noticed the hoof prints of cattle and scats from various animals – the kinds of things that attract inquisitive and hungry condors. Getting to the Venado Blanco site required some serious off-roading and a hike with the weatherstations and their installation equipment across steep chaparral covered slopes.

The site itself was a picturesque study in contrasts, with colorful desert flowers in bloom beneath blackened pine trees that had been scarred by numerous lightening strikes and wildfires. The frequent storm activity in the area is of particular concern, since a high voltage blast of static electricity could have some serious negative consequences for one of our little weatherstations! To reduce the possibility of lightening strike we grounded our units to a long copper rod that we hammered into the ground. Needless to say, trying to find sufficient earth in which to hammer a six-foot rod into in a rocky granite peak also presented a physical challenge.

The remaining weatherstations are soon to be installed across the remote eastern canyons of the Baja reintroduction site that face the open deserts towards the Gulf of California. This network of canyons includes Picacho Del Diablo, which is the steepest peak in Baja. The sheer difficulty of reaching these sites necessitates the incorporation of a remote data uplink system into the weatherstations, to beam the climate data directly to us via a satellite modem. Once installed, we will be able to access the weather information provided by the units via the Internet. By matching the wind conditions and air temperatures with the movement patterns of the ranging condors we will be able to build an extensive and accurate picture of the environmental factors that shape condor habitat use and foraging success. This is another example of how cutting-edge technology can contribute highly valuable information to enhance management programs designed to conserve threatened species.

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On Monday afternoon, May 21, our afternoon keeper reported that there was a huge group of visitors congregated around the exhibit as she was leaving for the day. She asked what was going on and was told that the otter pup had been swimming briefly. She was so disappointed that she just missed it, but was excited to learn of the news.

The next day, with my camera ready, I cleaned the exhibit in my usual routine and spread the otter food out all over the exhibit to encourage mom to get some exercise foraging for her meal. I opened the door to the den area to release her on exhibit and patiently waited. Mama Sweet Otter came running out in her usual mealtime excitement, but this time baby was right on her heals. The pair first came over to the wall where I was standing to check if I was going to do a food toss. The whole time baby was climbing all over her mom like an insecure child wanting to be picked up. Sweet Otter paid no mind and turned toward the water to check out her water jug with fish waiting inside. Baby otter ran after her and, just like a wobbly toddler unsure of her footing and unable to stop her forward momentum; she plowed into the shallow water full speed. She swam around in a circle rather awkwardly and when her head popped up she started squeaking until mom came over to comfort her. Together they swam a little bit and then Sweet Otter went off to find more food.

Little pup wasn’t sure what to do and continued to vocalize during her mom’s hunt. I watched as Sweet Otter gathered several fish and then collected her pup and the two of them went back into the den for the rest of the day. It was such a privilege to view this early swim lesson and I can’t wait to see the pup’s comfort level continue to improve in the future. The next couple of days I didn’t see the pup come out to swim, so for now the sightings will be sporadic. It will only be a matter of time before she is out and about on a regular basis exploring and learning about her world.

This first documented swimming event is just one of many little steps in our pup’s maturation. As you may recall from my last blog, on April 24 the pup had just opened its eyes. Around this time we had been filling the pool to a shallow level, only about 5 to 8 inches at the deepest point. This was mostly for Sweet Otter to be able to clean her coat and have a little exercise, but always with the intention that the pup would start swimming lessons soon. The first week of May would mark the timeline that other zoos have documented first swims to occur.

On April 25, we started seeing the pup make attempts to leave the nest box located inside the den area. Sweet Otter wasn’t ready for this and kept pushing her baby right back into the box over the next week or so. During this time, Sweet Otter was finally starting to venture out of the den area while we were present, and we began to shut her out of the den area, separating her from the pup for very brief moments. This was in preparation for the upcoming pup exam and first vaccinations in which we would have to keep mom in the exhibit in order to handle the pup. Sweet Otter’s appetite had been increasing and she was more and more accepting of this as we rewarded her with yummy goodies on exhibit. Our efforts paid off, and when the vets came down for the exam on May 3, Sweet Otter willingly left the den area. The exam went smoothly and it was determined that the pup was a female. A weight was attempted, but due to a scale malfunction, it could not be obtained. That was okay though, because now we had worked up to being able to keep Sweet Otter out at any time in order to handle the pup. Just two days later, I weighed her and she was 5.71 pounds (a gain of almost 3 pounds from two weeks ago!).

One week after the pup’s exam, we finally started seeing her coming out of the nest box and attempting to follow Sweet Otter out of the den area. Her wobbly and unsteady little legs caused her to flop and fall a lot, but she seemed determined to start exploring. Every day she was gaining more control over her body and finally, on May 17, we witnessed her on exhibit with Sweet Otter, although not anywhere near the water. And then, two days later, the swimming had begun! As soon as we see more regular swimming and are confident that the pup can handle it, we will offer increasingly deeper pool depths.

Now, the biggest challenge comes with figuring out an appropriate name for this little girl. Since Cape clawless otters come from South Africa, I’ll be looking for an African name with an interesting meaning. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! And in the meantime, keep watching the otter exhibit in Bear Canyon for glimpses of this little cutie!

Hali Anderson is a senior keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

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In the past, the late keeper would bring all of the monkeys into their bedrooms at night. These bedrooms provide warmth, shelter, toys to play with, and a full-course meal of greens, specially formulated biscuits, roots, vegetables, and fruit. Now that the trees are fruiting and the weather is so pleasant, however, Mr. Toad and his family are spending all day foraging and aren’t very interested in spending their evenings inside. I fully believe in listening to the animals when they’re trying to tell us something. This time, they’re telling me it’s the season for camping under the stars with a cool breeze and fresh berries at hand. Instead of trying to compete with that, I’ve started giving Mr. Toad’s group access to the building but not locking them inside in the evenings. They are now free to come and go as they please.

The only problem comes when I need to access the exhibit in the morning. I needed to find a way for Mr. Toad and his group to understand when they have to come inside—and all at the same time. So I went out and purchased a cow bell. I’ve been using this bell to signal to the troop that it’s time for breakfast—inside! Although Mr. Toad is perfectly happy to come in, Bunzi and Karen are a bit harder to convince. This is where our littlest, bravest swamp monkey, Kinah, comes in to help me out.

Since Kinah was hand raised, she is very attracted to humans and loves to visit with us. With Kinah’s help, I’ve been patiently working with Karen, Bunzi, and Makonnen to come inside each morning. Usually, I ring the cow bell and hear the girls call excitedly in response. They know that in addition to the usual breakfast fare, I also give out their favorite snack of peanuts if they shift inside. Kinah loves to come running inside to grab a quick snack, but the girls are less trusting and it takes a few tries to convince them to leave their “room with a view.”

My hopes are high, however. This new routine will benefit both the monkeys, by giving them more options, and the keepers, by still providing a place to get a good look at the animals, weigh them, and train them for medical procedures. And through all of this, I have Kinah to thank. She’s as remarkable today as she was when fighting so hard for her life at birth. So at your next visit to Ituri Forest, between the laughs and coos at our littlest kids, give a thanks to Kinah for making my life a little easier.

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

Read Nerissa’s previous blog about Kinah…

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This collaboration took some time, but it is better to have a coordinated, united front to ensure that we meet the most pressing needs at Wolong. I am happy to see that many of you are reading the Web sites of other zoos and conservation organizations to learn more about the situation in Wolong and how you can help. These people are also our friends and colleagues and we collaborate with them on many panda conservation science projects. The panda conservation community is already close knit, but at times like these it is important for us to rally together for a greater cause.

Your gifts to this fund will provide emergency relief and supplies to the pandas and their caretakers and will help them rebuild their homes and other facilities. The staff at the Wolong Nature Reserve and breeding center have been championed in the press for their heroic efforts to save the pandas, the visiting tourists, and each other. Let’s help these people and their pandas get back on their feet and back to normal as quickly as possible.

Back to normal for Wolong means playing a critical role in the conservation of this most endearing animal. Wolong is the leading facility for conservation breeding of giant pandas. If you look back to the mid-1990s, the breeding centers in China and elsewhere were failing to reach sustainability, meaning the population relied on capture of wild pandas to keep the population from going extinct. Since then, Wolong has turned around its breeding program, increasing the numbers from about 25 to well over 100. Having discovered—through an intensive research program—what was required to get pandas to “do what comes naturally,” most of this increase is attributed to natural mating. At the San Diego Zoo, one of the accomplishments we are most proud of is the assistance we provided that helped make this revolution in panda breeding possible. Wolong also has an active field conservation and science program for the wild pandas living in the Nature Reserve. With such a track record we can be sure that our donations will go to a good cause!

Thank you all for your support and for sharing your information about the news coming out of Wolong. I read these and learn a lot more about what’s happening. I hesitate to call or e-mail my friends in China too often because I know they are inundated with requests for information that may be a distraction from the laborious tasks at hand during the crisis. I don’t have much to add to the comments, but will fill in one bit of information. Many of you have asked why we can’t identify Hua Mei. The staff at Wolong can easily identify Hua Mei and every other panda just by looking at them. Yes, we did implant a microchip for permanent identification, but you can only read it from a few feet away so it won’t help find a panda in the forest. The problem wasn’t that Wolong staff weren’t sure which pandas escaped, but that we did not have that information. Remember, to the best of my knowledge, the zoo community in the U.S. here has only received two or three short e-mails from people actually living at Wolong. No phone calls. Our information is largely coming from Wolong staff that have not been in Wolong since before the quake. With so much to worry about (How are the pandas? How is your family?) our contacts have not thought to ask the question about which pandas escaped. I am happy to learn that it appears that Hua Mei did not escape and her oldest cub has been recaptured. We have high hopes for those other two pandas that are still out there.

Ron Swaisgood is the co-head of the San Diego Zoo’s Giant Panda Conservation Unit.

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