A vast majority of our posts are focused on giant pandas, with little attention given to staff who take care of these black and white balls of fur. Let’s turn the table and focus on the keepers in a mini series so aptly named- Keeper Profiles.
Liu Lu Yong
Lan Xiang
Kicking this idea into gear was the arrival of a female panda named Lan Xiang. A robust female, born in July of 2002 (studbook #548), at the Wolong Breeding Center, but primarily housed at the Chongqing Zoological Garden. She arrived here at Bifengxia in the back of a small van looking calm as could be. Along for the transition is her kind and smiley keeper- Liu Lu Yong. He has been with her since 2006 and considers Lan Xiang as his child. The bond between the two would soon become evident when she would breed three days later.
In preparation for Lan Xiang’s breeding, she was housed between two males- Lu Lu & An An. In the morning, Liu Lu Yong would obsessively clean her cage, almost like you could eat off of the floor. He would let her back into the outer bedroom and splash her legs with water. You could tell that she liked this because she would walk in a circle, stop at the water bucket and only continue once he splashed her with water again.
Given that both keeper and bear are from the municipality of Chongqing (about 5 hours from Bifengxia), Mr. Liu Lu Yong brought along several burlap sacks of bamboo shoots. The bamboo is obviously different than the species we have around here, given that it’s about three times larger than our shoots. He certainly knows his bear.
During her first breeding with Lu Lu, the coupling didn’t go as smoothly as everyone had hoped. Lu Lu got a little rough and had to be separated. Liu Lu Yong was clearly upset as I could see him teary-eyed and concerned about his girl. Almost made me cry to see him so concerned for his bear. After she had a few hours to calm down, they introduced An An and the breeding was an instant success (success is considered to be intromission). After both An An and Lan Xiang had finished, the bear separated and fell asleep in a pile of discarded bamboo shoots. All of the keepers and managers were delighted and congratulating one another.
Liu Lu Yong will remain with Lan Xiang through the whole process. I imagine that they will both return to Chongqing in the next few weeks, after they have given her the maximum chance at reproductive success. He has been a joy to be around these last few days, as we always attempt to communicate with hand gestures and mixed English/Chinese tonal regurgitations. Lets wish both Lan Xiang and Liu Lu Yong good luck and we hope to see some cub pictures in the near future.
Interested in watching the mating between Lu Lu and Lan Xiang? Click on the video below.
What a great story about keeper Liu Lu Yong and his relationship with Lan Xiang. Excellent video of the mating process. Thank you very much for reporting the goings on at the breeding center.