Panda Updates – Wednesday, January 16

I haven’t worked the giant panda routine for a few weeks, and it has been even longer since I had a chance to train with the cubs on their open-mouth cue. Much to my surprise, Ya Lun opened her mouth right away when asked! For Xi Lun, it took a couple attempts of me asking her and presenting the cue for her to remember what I was asking. She, of course, remembered and opened her mouth big and wide. As I’m sure we have mentioned before, the training we do at the Zoo is to provide the animals the ability to participate in their own health care. We can ask for various body parts or body positioning so we can examine those parts without having to put them under anesthesia, and they get some special food rewards in return.
Shauna
Keeper II, Mammals