Panda Updates – Monday, November 25

Utilizing our behind-the-scenes outdoor habitat is one of my favorite aspects of being on the Panda Care Team. This habitat seems to bring out the playful side in all of the giant pandas, and it’s so much fun to watch them run around and plow through the wild bamboo in there. Lun Lun got to enjoy this habitat for the first time in a while last week, and she surprised all of us with just how playful she was. I like to describe Lun Lun as one of those toy cars that you have to first pull backward before it will shoot forward. Lun Lun isn’t a particularly playful bear, but if you get her going she will gladly run around with you (on the other side of a barrier, of course) and do somersaults down hills. She surprised us all even more when she splashed into the pool! This is normally seen as a breeding season behavior, but she was having a great time splashing around and playing with the surrounding bamboo. 
Danica W.
Keeper II, Mammals

(video courtesy of Danica W.)