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It has been a rainy week in Atlanta! Thankfully, the giant pandas have been staying nice and dry in the dayrooms. The rainy weather also means that the pandas’ bamboo is especially fresh. Normally in our hot state with its intense sun, our bamboo technicians have to be careful to not let the bamboo dry … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Wednesday, January 15"

This year has been an eventful one for the gorillas and their care team. In fact, for the past several months, the Gorilla Care Team was very busy preparing for the transfer of one of our bachelors, Jasiri, to another accredited zoo. As per recommendation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) Gorilla Species … Continue reading "Jasiri’s new chapter"

Zoo Atlanta-born silverback has moved to a new zoo to start his own group On June 24, 2019, Jasiri, a 21-year-old male western lowland gorilla born at Zoo Atlanta, is ready to begin an exciting new chapter in a new home. Jasiri left Atlanta on June 17, 2019, and is now settling into new surroundings … Continue reading "Jasiri the gorilla begins a new chapter"

Jasiri, a 21-year-old male western lowland gorilla born at Zoo Atlanta, is ready to begin an exciting new chapter in a new home. Jasiri left Atlanta on June 17, 2019, and is now settling into new surroundings at Calgary Zoo in Alberta, Canada. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ (AZA) Gorilla Species Survival Plan® (SSP) … Continue reading "Jasiri the gorilla begins a new chapter"

Wet, icy, wintry weather recently threatened to strike Atlanta for the first time in 2019! Due to anticipation of inclement weather, Zoo Atlanta was closed yesterday, but this didn’t mean the animals were left to fend for themselves! We have a very dedicated animal care team at the Zoo, and neither rain, sleet, snow, sun, … Continue reading "Panda updates – Wednesday, January 30"

If you have visited Idgie the red panda in the last year, you will have noticed we made several improvements to her habitat. Recently, we have made some additions that may not be so obvious. A little background first … red pandas are equipped to handle very cold temperatures. They have a very dense undercoat … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Monday, January 28"

Ya Lun and Xi Lun achieved a pretty big accomplishment last week: they participated in their first voluntary blood draws! At Zoo Atlanta, all of our training is voluntary for the animals, and if at any time they don’t want to participate, they don’t have to. We focus on training behaviors with the animals that … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Wednesday, January 23"

Many of you who have followed the giant pandas for a long time may remember that Lun Lun has always refused to eat sweet potatoes. Yang Yang and all but one of Lun Lun’s offspring love to eat sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes were always one food item we knew Lun Lun wouldn’t steal from her … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Friday, January 18"

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 … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Wednesday, January 16"

Giant pandas have some of the strongest jaws of all terrestrial carnivores. Their ability to crush through tough bamboo comes from those strong jaw muscles, as well as the location at which the jaw muscles attach. A pandas’ jaw muscles are attached at their sagittal crest. For those of you with dogs at home, this … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Monday, January 14"