Panda Update – Wednesday, March 22

Now that our two little girls have mastered the running thing, the climbing thing, and the exploring thing in their indoor habitat, it is time they took the next step and tried to do all of that stuff outside. This week we will begin “cub proofing” one of the pandas’ outdoor habitats in order to allow this to happen. While the habitats are well suited for the adults, we need to make some minor modifications in order to make it a bit easier for the cubs to navigate and enjoy. This will enable Lun Lun and the cubs to begin spending time outside in the sun and beautiful spring weather. As all of this will probably be a bit scary and overwhelming to everyone right off the bat, so we will make the transition a gradual one. When we start offering Lun Lun and the girls the outdoor yard, we will still make sure to leave them access to their indoor dayroom, just in case they feel the need to run back inside. As they become more comfortable being outside, we will begin closing the door for short periods at first and then extending that to longer periods as time goes by. If these girls are anything like the rest of their older siblings, it will not take them very long at all to accept their new outdoor world.

Xi Lun and Ya Lun have passed so many milestones so far this year, and this step will be another one to check off the list, but they have many more to go as they continue to grow.
Kenn H.
Assistant Curator of Mammals