Panda Updates – Friday, March 2

Today was my first day back with the giant pandas after a week-long vacation. I got a few updates from other members of the care team and read their posts, so I knew a little bit of how Ya Lun and Xi Lun were doing with the weaning process. Based on my experience with two prior giant panda weanings, I was expecting Ya Lun and Xi Lun to be up and ready in the morning, maybe with some vocalizations. But, to my surprise, when I came in at 8:30 a.m., they were still asleep in the dayroom! I thought, okay, well surely they will start vocalizing when we bring them inside to weigh them and clean the dayroom, right? Nope! It wasn’t until we reunited them and Lun Lun in the dayroom and they began nursing did they make any sound at all, and that was just their typical nursing sounds. When we shifted Lun Lun through the building this morning to get her into the dayroom, she only bleated when entering one of the dens as a cue that she was entering the space. When she got to the dayroom where Ya Lun and Xi Lun were, she did a quick once-over of each and then went right to eating bamboo. I’d say these girls are doing great with the weaning process!
Shauna
Keeper II, Mammals