Panda Updates – Wednesday, September 11

Birthday season is officially over in the panda building, and that means a few things around here! The summer is winding down (though the 98°F temps this week say otherwise!). Giant Panda Wild Encounters have switched over to occurring just four days a week instead of every day. The giant pandas are all eating their bamboo well and taking lots of naps. Combined, these factors mean that the Panda Care Team has a little more time for other projects, including training the twins! Yang Yang and Lun Lun know quite a lot of behaviors, which you have likely seen them demonstrate if you have been on a Giant Panda Wild Encounter. However, at just 3 years old, the twins know only a few. Now that we’re heading into the fall and winter, it is time to catch them up to speed! Yesterday Ya Lun and Xi Lun were hanging out in the behind-the-scenes areas so that we were able to do training sessions throughout the day. We know how popular they are with our guests, so they will still typically be out in the dayrooms during the week, and almost always on the weekend. If you come by and don’t see them, though, just know that they are likely having a blast learning new behaviors, and best of all, receiving leafeater biscuits every time they do them correctly! They have not spent a lot of time behind the scenes, so this is also a fun, new experience for them. They are taking to it quite well and seem to love one particular den room best. I took this picture of them taking a nap there with their arms over each other in between training sessions! In the photo, it’s also really easy to see Ya Lun’s pseudothumb and the underside of her chin, which is an angle we don’t get to see too often!
Michelle E.
Keeper III, Mammals