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Hello Panda Fans! I know I recently shared an update about Yang and how playful he’s been, but I figured nobody would mind another story about him having fun and being silly. Like I mentioned previously, the Panda Care Team can interact with Yang Yang by doing a training session when he’s behind the scenes, … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Monday, July 27"

It’s National Zoo Keeper Week! As you have probably seen on Zoo Atlanta social media recently, this week is about appreciating the hard work of animal care professionals and promoting the occupation as a whole. While I am lucky to get to work with a ton of great Animal Care Team members here at Zoo … Continue reading "Panda updates – Wednesday, July 22"

Giant pandas are the masters of falling off of things. When I first started taking care of the pandas, I was very surprised at how something so big could fling itself to the ground at full speed, and get up and do it over and over again. Actually, a lot of times when giant pandas … Continue reading "Panda updates – Monday, July 20"

Friday, July 17 As Michelle E. mentioned the other day, the panda office contains monitors that allow us to view multiple spaces throughout the building, which helps us to determine next steps in routine as we check on each bear. One day, while I was checking on everyone, I noticed that Ya Lun was still napping … Continue reading "Panda updates – Friday, July 17"

So many of you tune in to our PandaCam daily, but did you know that we do too? Our office is filled with monitors showing views of the pandas. They show the dayrooms, the outdoor habitats, and the behind-the-scenes dens. It is difficult for us to see directly into the panda dayrooms from behind the … Continue reading "Panda updates – Wednesday, July 15"

As you probably recall reading from past panda updates, when Yang Yang is feeling playful, the Panda Care Team can do things like play-chase where we run on our side of the mesh (there’s always a protective barrier between us and a bear), as well as tug-of-war (which always results in Yang winning, of course). … Continue reading "Panda updates – Monday, July 13"

On Tuesday, I was able to work in the giant panda building for the first time since March, and it was SO great to see the pandas again! As part of our efforts toward social distancing, we have been limiting the number of care team members working in each area. I have been working solely … Continue reading "Panda updates – Friday, July 10"

Giant pandas have a powerful jaw structure that helps them break the tough exterior of bamboo. Their jaw muscles are attached at the sagittal crest at the tops of their heads, which is what allows them to have such a strong jaw force. Giant pandas also have some unique features regarding their dentition compared with … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Wednesday, July 8"

It’s a special day for the Panda Care Team because Po’s twins are 1 today! If you’re new to the Atlanta pandas, Po was Lun Lun Lun’s third and first female cub. She was born Nov. 3, 2010, and lived with Lun Lun until she was weaned in spring 2013. She moved to the Chengdu … Continue reading "Panda updates – Monday, July 6"

Giant pandas and red pandas are not closely related, with their most common ancestor living over 40 million years ago. So, why is it that two very different animals have similar adaptations to eat an almost exclusively bamboo diet? For many years, scientists were perplexed by the similarity. “Exactly how such evolutionary distant animals evolved … Continue reading "Panda Updates – Monday, June 29"