Newly Independent Su Lin
Posted at 4:31 pm February 28, 2007 by Kay Ferguson
The last phase of separation is complete with very little stress on Bai Yun (pictured) and Su Lin. It is very natural for a panda mother to separate from her cub at this age. In the wild, the mother would simply walk far enough away that the cub could not find her, and the cub would be on it’s own. Now that Su Lin has become independent, she has her keepers to make sure she eats and gets the proper care now that she is on her own. Remember, a wild cub has just its abilities to survive, so she will be just fine. A panda’s nature is to be solitary; it is hard to understand since we are so close to our families, but that is human nature and we have to think of a bear’s nature and how she handles her life cycle.
This is the third baby I have watched Bai Yun separate from and it looked like the easiest of the three. Bai Yun is a skilled mother and knew when it was time for Su Lin to be on her own. I remember Mei Sheng and how he called for his mother for hours. Of course, she did not respond to his calls; it was over as far as she was concerned. It was a difficult time for him and I have not seen that with his sister.
Now when you come to visit you may see other changes at the Giant Panda Research Station as we head into breeding season. Su Lin is in the back area and Gao Gao, our papa bear, has moved into the right exhibit. He has been scent marking and vocalizing, reclaiming the exhibit space as his own. This is always interesting to watch and hear!
Kay Ferguson is a panda narrator at the San Diego Zoo.
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February 28th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
Watching Su Lin grow up has been such a pleasure & I look forward to seeing her back on exhibit in the future. But how exciting that breeding season is approaching for Bai Yun & Gao Gao! Is Gao Gao doing his macho handstand scent marking? Has Bai Yun been putting on weight? During my last visit on 2/10 a narrator said she was down to about 202 lbs.-considerably less than her usual weight. Is Gao Gao bulking up for breeding season? The move to the exhibit next to Bai Yun certainly didn’t ruin his appetite
Thanks for the update, Kay!
February 28th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
Thanks for the update Kay. Su Lin appears to be very happy in her newest space. She has lots of room to climb and snooze which she loves to do. She also has many interesting new places to explore and scents from boys to check out. It will be interesting to see if she uses her high tree perches to survey the human animals the way her brother does. I am looking forward to a shot of both of them high in the trees if that is possible.
Was the day he climbed up 40 feet one of the days that Su Lin was calling a lot to Bai Yun? I wonder if it had anything to do with him climbing so high. I read that yesterday Tai Shan climbed half way up a very tall tree when he heard the sounds coming from his parents in the adjacent yards. My guess is that he was about as far away as Mei Sheng was from Su Lin. Since they must rely on scent and hearing in such cases, I can imagine as an adolescent bear he would climb high to check it out.
Have Mei Sheng or Su Lin continued to climb high or was it just a first time exploration experience for them. I did not see Su Lin on the camera today, so I don’t know if she is sticking to the lower climbing structure, which she appears to love, or if she tried climbing way up above the building in the background again.
What kind of vocalizations is GaoGao making? A bleating, or some other sound? Does Bai Yun act like she hears him, and if so does she make any sounds in return? Would he be trying to send her a message in the wild that he is in the area, and wants to make contact at the right time?
Since it has been two years since they last bred, and this process is new to many of us, it will be a very exciting and educational time. We are looking forward to the next steps in every one of the panda’s lives. They all have a lot going on in the next two months. Please keep us posted about Su Lin and Mei Sheng while their parents are the focus of attention and also getting the most visual contact.
February 28th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Great shot! All mom Bai Yun needs is a sofa, some fuzzy slippers and a box of bon bons. From that photo, she really looks like she is enjoying her freedom - no “empty nest” syndrome for her! Good for her, she deserves a little R&R.
February 28th, 2007 at 9:32 pm
Bai Yun has been eating more since Su Lin is gone and in a few months she will be her robust self again. Gao Gao is putting on the pounds as well. By the way, Su Lin is doing just fine in the back research yard.
March 1st, 2007 at 2:22 am
I look forward to Bai Yun and Gao Gao rekindling their romance soon!
Great job to all at SDZ for taking such wonderful loving care of the pandas, and for another successful weaning with our beloved Lil Miss Independent, Su Lin! May Bai Yun enjoy her time of freedom……at least until another cub or 2 comes along!
March 1st, 2007 at 6:00 am
What a contented and beautiful bear Bai looks to be! She seems to be saying “I’ve done my job well and now I can finally have some time to myself.” A little “me-time” never hurt anyone!! =(8^).
March 1st, 2007 at 7:30 am
Thank you so much for giving us a window to watch these wonderful and rare animals. I am thrilled each day I tune in to see what the bears are up to. Bai is such a wonderful mother and I am glad there may be another cub in the near future for us “pandaholics” to view. I love seeing the other bears and knowing that Su Lin is in such wonderful hands with her keepers has made watching the weaning process easier.
Again, thank you all for giving us a way to see the bears and the way they live their lives. If it wasn’t for you, many of us would never have the chance to take part in their daily lives and in the lives of the precious cubs.
March 1st, 2007 at 7:49 am
What is the tall light colored building over the wall in C28? It was also in view when Su Lin was high up in the tree on Tuesday. The tree view looked like she was higher than the building, but the building looks like it is two or three stories tall, so I doubt it.
I love the climbing structure in the exhibit she is in. It looks like a jungle gym for pandas, and would be so much fun for a juvenile panda to climb. I think she will enjoy it alot. Mei Sheng appeared to like it too.
March 1st, 2007 at 9:21 am
I am not sure who has more fun with learning to climb, mother or cub. First the moms are protective, but then they join in the fun. I remember Mei Xiang trying to pull Tai Shan off but he was too strong and determined. Then she started showing him how to hang upside down. Unfortunately I didn’t catch Bai Yun teaching Su Lin about climbing trees. Obviously Mei Sheng and Su Lin got very good at it and Su spent most of the last 9 months high up off the ground. Now Mei Lan is climbing, and this morning LunLun joined her. Previously she had been pulling her off, but today she lay down on the crosslogs to block her path, then swung herself on the extra trees they added for height, and finally climbed down to watch.
I can’t wait to see Su Lin on the climbing structure in her new exhibit. I notice that the camera is focused in that area today. Soon enough Bai Yun will have one or more cubs to teach to climb safely once again. I realize that pandas are natural climbers and have inate instincts that guide their climbing prowess. It is akin to riding a bike I guess. Once you get your balance and the instinct of riding kicks in, you never forget it.
March 1st, 2007 at 12:58 pm
kay, thanks for the update, how lucky you have been to see all three bears growing up and leaving home and going on their own. I think you’re a proud panda mama. I watched big daddy chow down this morning, he was checking out his space and eating in between. It seems that Su lin is enjoying her new found freedom in her new space and the trees are really inviting. Has she seen her brother yet or heard him ?
March 1st, 2007 at 7:12 pm
Thank you for the fantastic updates! What fine fun it has been to see Gao Gao up close and personal! Having read that he is a bamboo chomping maniac, is nothing like actually watching it
I think yesterday (the 28th) he ate for 6 hours straight! Each time I was able to ‘peek’ at the cam, Gao Gao was chowing down. I didn’t see Su today, but I viewed her one morning this week in her bedroom and then noticed her open door. She has a great deal of new found freedom, and appears to enjoy it. And! Three Cheers to Bai! What a complete joy to watch her dining and loving it! To the staff: Well, you all get a two panda thumbs up! You’ve given all of your ’students’ some ‘paws’ for thought 
Thank You All!
Sincerely,
Bobbie Wood
March 2nd, 2007 at 1:32 pm
Also from me a big thankyou to you, Kay, and all of you at SDZ who did such a marvellous job! I guess that it must be quite rewarding for you to see all the pandas at peace with themselves, at last. You can really be proud of your achievement. And for us viewers worldwide it has been very educating and wonderful as well to be able to follow the weaning process and the “aftermath” so closely. Now we can only wait and see what is going to happen next….!
March 2nd, 2007 at 5:34 pm
You know - I’ve heard stories about how much Gao Gao eats - but boy, since he’s been on camera so much lately - I can see it for myself. That guy just doesn’t seem to stop! What a life - oh to be a panda at the SDZ - don’t think life could get much better than that!
March 3rd, 2007 at 8:05 am
Conversation with Gao Gao #17
Gao Gao:
(sings his version of Leonard Bernstein’s “Tonight” from West Side Story)
Tonight, tonight, we’ll feed on ‘boo tonight.
Tonight there will be full moon and stars.
Tonight, tonight, we’ll sniff into the night,
We will scent, we’ll anoint, all the night.
The day will bring forth all our keepers,
To monitor our progress
And check on our supplies.
O moon, so bright. Let’s bring forth many cubs in the night!
TONIGHT…
Tourist: Bravo! Our Great Romantic.
Bai Yun: (swoons)
Mei Sheng: Does this mean he’ll give us playmates?
Su Lin: Will he play with me?
Tai Shan: I think I’m getting satellite signals.
Mei Xiang: I’m getting signals, too.
Tian Tian: My dear Mei Xiang, let’s play.
March 3rd, 2007 at 2:23 pm
What a pleasure to see Princess Su Lin on the pandacam this afternoon. She’s been resting in a tree and now is lounging on her back sampling bamboo. She looks very relaxed.
March 4th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
P Wong–I just love your posts!
SDZ staff–thank you for all you do in taking care of these dear creatures.
Hard to believe our little Su Lin is so grown up now.
March 4th, 2007 at 2:06 pm
BRAVO, P Wong, BRAVO!!! You’ve captured the essence of GaoGao. If he is to sire the next NZP cub(s) he certainly will be eating into the night, and bringing forth many cubs into the night.
Is GaoGao starting to scent mark any more than usual? Tian is having fun playing as P Wong captured in the poem, but he is also starting to do a lot more scent marking. Mei is certainly busy with keeping a male company and playing with him. Although this time it is an adult so he is more content to eat most of the time and he knows better than to badger him like his son Tai does.
I have not seen Gao do anything other than eat or sleep, or ocassionally scent mark, so I am not familiar with his interest or lack of interest in “playing” with enrichment items. I have seen Bai Yun play with puzzle feeders and other toys in the exhibit, but have not seen him do anything while awake besides Eat, Eat, Eat. What a bamboo hound. It is a good thing that bamboo doesn’t add calories, because he would be very FAT. But then again, if it had calories, he might not have the inate impulse to eat so much to maintain his body weight. He has to bulk up to be ready for his true love, Bai Yun. She also has to bulk up to be ready for him, and to support a growing cub(s) for the next 2 years.
March 4th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
Margot, I see the same pose of Su Lin. She looks just like her daddy did about 10 days ago in the same spot. He often leaned on the wall while he reclined to eat. Lately I think she is making up for lost time and starting to eat a whole lot more like he does. I wonder if she has his “chow down” genes. Since she is no longer getting any of the fatter calorie intake from her mother’s milk she must be making up for it in eating her “boo.”
She looks quite happy in her new big exhibit and is still exploring her trees for the perfect slumber spot.
Great job, and thanks, to all the keepers for helping her though her anxious times to a peaceful adolescence. She is such a mature, calm looking bear. Even Cousin Tai seems to be happy away from his mother now, and is off exploring on his own too. They both have adjusted quite well and look so much more grown up and independent than they did just two weeks ago. It is hard to believe it has been that long since we pandaholics were all teary eyed and gasping everytime we saw them look unhappy.
March 4th, 2007 at 2:46 pm
I, too, remember the distress of Mei Sheng when he was separated from his mother. It was heartbreaking. I am happy Su Lin has had an easier time.
March 5th, 2007 at 9:11 am
BRAVO, P Wong, BRAVO!! I’m not sure who is the more romantic - you or Gao Gao! Please keep your interviews coming - they are just charming!
March 5th, 2007 at 11:27 am
Gao Gao (AKA “The Stud”)
There’s a rather small Panda out West.
When stud muffins are named, he’s the best.
He may be quite small,
But in love he stands tall,
And simply out-performs the rest!
They’re thinking of replacing Tian,
‘Cause in lovin’, our Gao Gao’s ‘The Man’.
He assumes the position,
And achieves intromission.
Something no other male Panda can.
But our little stud’s in for a shock,
Because he may be prime breeding stock,
But it seems that NZ’s
Got his sperm in deep freeze,
And all Mei Xiang needs is a doc.
So Tian Tian can bleat, chirp, and hover,
And think he’s Mei Xiang’s only lover.
Gao Gao stays out West
Knows he’s really the best,
“Cause he’s knocked up Mei Xiang undercover!
March 5th, 2007 at 1:26 pm
You go girl!
GaoGao is a busy dad in the making this year. Anywhere else his offspring might “pop up” like Mexico maybe?
I understand the Chapultepec Zoo imported a male in the hope that their female would breed. The pair in Mexico, as I understand it, are the only two pandas in the world that are not “owned” by China. Is their female past breeding age? Or, is there still hope that some pandas may be born in North America that will not have to be returned to China?
March 5th, 2007 at 1:28 pm
Pamela, you are something else , this is just too cute, but you are right Gao Gao is the stud muffin and the big daddy, like they say “good things come in small packages’.
March 5th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Pamela G that was a funny poem. but how do you think that Tai, Su, and Sheng would feel about their parents running around with other pandas! Still that pretty much described Gao Gao.
March 5th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Pamela G–Not only do you write beautiful lullabies–your poem about Gao Gao’s prowess is a riot! It’s great to have his gifts so cleverly celebrated in verse. I must say, though, that I do feel kind of sorry for Tian Tian, with the whole “panda community” aware of his sperm count. I hope it’s just a temporary condition. Meanwhile, SDZ’s wonderful Daddy Panda will pick up the slack. You go, Gao Gao!
March 5th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
P. Wong, great post and song selection! With Gao Gao wooing his ladybear like this, no wonder love is in the air for him and Bai Yun! Keeping all my paws crossed for another cub (or 2!) for the SDZ this summer.
March 5th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
Pamela, your poem is a hoot! OMG, toooo funny.
Margaret, yes I hear there are 2 or 3 lovely lady pandas in Mexico, awaiting a husband/cub….SDZ, is this a possibility? It would certainly expand the gene pool I should think!
March 5th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
Thanks, Kay, for telling us how things are with “our” bears. I always look forward to any new items that you and the other panda team members post for us to read.
Such a fun, creative group of panda-watchers!!! lol It’s always a treat to read your new poems and songs.
Thanks for sharing them with us as we wait for the next chapter in this wonderful living story.
If Gao Gao sires several new cubs (could be as many as four if there are two sets of twins), the keepers and all of us panda-watchers are going to be reaaaaaallllly busy!
March 6th, 2007 at 12:23 am
That is a great poem Pamela,I think SDZ should hang these poems in the panda bedrooms! lol
March 6th, 2007 at 6:23 am
Okay, so if Tian Tian actually does the deed with Mai; will they also artificially inseminate her with Gao Gao’s sperm?? To be absolutely sure she gets preggers?
March 6th, 2007 at 10:33 am
All this talk is making me blush a little - in between fits of giggles. I hope Gao Gao’s favorite gal Bai Yun doesn’t get jealous - all these lovely ladies vying for his affections. What’s a stud to do…