I can’t believe we are now in our second month here in China! Time has flown by and we’ve made great progress in this summer’s studies. As many of you know, PDXWildlife interns are assigned specific projects at the start of the internship based on our interests and the program’s needs. Having previous experience with mother-infant behavioral research, I was excited to be assigned to the Maternal Care study. Hopefully this year’s cubs arrive soon!
Until then, I am helping the other interns with their studies. The personality trials are extremely interesting and eventful. While some pandas choose to ignore the presented enrichment items (ball, fruitcicle, mirror, etc.), others engage immediately and frequently. We are already able to recognize bears by their notably different personalities. Yi Ran shows special interest in the Jolly ball—she is quick to investigate and spends the entire trial pawing, biting, and rolling around with it. It’s hard to keep up with her on the iPad!
-
- Signature PDXWildlife iPad and Lu Lu
-
- Preparing Dried Fecal Sample
While waiting for the cubs, I’ve also come to know the Freeze Dryer very well… Days that aren’t occupied by personality or stereotypic studies are poop days. Upon arrival, we ‘inherited’ two freezers full of bagged panda poop ready for freeze drying and eventual hormone analysis. Though each freeze-drying cycle is a four-day process, fecal sample preparation has become part of my routine. As Nate predicted, we are now expert ‘poo-busters!’
Each day ends with a thirty-minute bus ride back down to Ya’an and our usual dinner and drinks at a noodle shop near our apartment. Luckily the construction is winding down as Ya’an readies for the 2017 Sichuan International Tourism and Culture Festival at the end of the month. We are excited to join the locals and tourists in celebration!
________________________________________________________________________
Katherine Brantley is our “Jack-Of-All-Trades” intern, working on all of our summer projects, while eagerly awaiting the birth of cubs at Bifengxia. As she has already put in a lot of time preparing for our Maternal Behavior study, she is very knowledgeable on the topic and would enjoy fielding any questions you might have. Thanks for reading!
Hi, Katherine! I am so excited for you to have all these experiences! I get vicarious thrills hearing of your adventures! I am wondering if you all have a theory or theories about why some panda moms are such good mothers and some reject their cub(s) altogether. Yes, I know humans can be lousy Moms, too, but in such a small population as compared to humans there seems to be such a high per capita percentage of rejection in the panda world! I’ve seen videos where the panda mom appears to be terrified of that tiny, yowling being but then warms up to it and the other end of the spectrum there’s Mei Xiang, Bai Yun, Er Shun and Lun Lun who seem to be born to have cubs – is there a theory about why this behavior occurs? I can’t see how the panda mom could resist such a darling little creature! Is it because they are in captivity and don’t have as keen a survival instinct or is that over simplifying it too much? Anyway, I hope you have a big batch of new “subjects” to study soon and keep up the good work!
Sincerely, JoAnn
You have a very cool job–love hearing about the different bears!