A Busy Breeding Center

by | Jan 24, 2017 | Panda | 6 comments

As I was assigned to lead the Maternal Care studies, I have been lucky to see more of the cub/mother interactions than my fellow interns. There is nothing quite like watching a mother and her cub(s) snuggling and playing with each other, but I also welcome the days where I am able to mix it up with a Stereotypic observation. These two studies capture so many different behaviors and the switch helps keep me on my toes.

I had the pleasure of observing Xi Xi who has been a resident at the Breeding Center for the past month. I did her stereotypic study last month and noticed that she was one of the more active bears. She paced frequently in her pen even with Yao Man (another female) as her neighbor.

She has since moved pens and is now placed between a newcomer, Xiang Lu and Wu Gang, both of whom are males. And once again, during this month’s observations, I noticed that Xi Xi was pacing a lot. This was interesting because it is difficult to say if her pacing is more attributed to her active nature or due her new neighbors. She paced along both sides of the pen, where the walls separated her from the other two pandas. She also vocalized a few times at Xiang Lu’s direction. Interestingly enough, Wu Gang didn’t behave differently with Xi Xi as a neighbor; he was eating the whole time. Xiang Lu on the other hand, showed some curiosity and paced back and forth along the wall between their pens too, and stopped between each window to look at Xi Xi.

I also visited the nursery and snapped pictures of the cubs. I wasn’t able to locate a keeper to help identify the cubs, but they were all doing well. I was lucky and two of them decided to be on the ground instead of up a tree. I hope you all enjoy!

img_7929Thanks for reading my post. I enjoy your comments, so feel free to ask a question or two. Peace!

6 Comments

  1. JoAnn Mann
    JoAnn Mann on January 24, 2017 at 2:18 pm

    Hi, Stephanie! I am always glad when I get posts from you lucky interns! I think the maternal-child studies would be very cool! I am an adopter (shared) of Lin Ping’s younger cub in the panda kindergarten. It will certainly heat up over there with mating season fast approaching! Do you think Xi Xi was “flirting” or just trying to introduce herself? Take care and enjoy yourself! I enjoy your posts immensely! JpAnn

    • Stephanie Wong
      Stephanie Wong on January 26, 2017 at 8:31 pm

      Hi JoAnn,

      Thanks for your continued support! The base is definitely getting more bears and most of the pens are full. It’s hard to say what Xi Xi’s thinking but my guess is curiosity. She was also vocalizing a lot when I studied her in December. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to ID in the cubs in the kindergarten but I hope you like the photos.

      Stephanie

  2. Stevi
    Stevi on January 24, 2017 at 4:31 pm

    Did Xi Xi vocalize at Wu Gang, too, or just Xiang Lu?

    • Stephanie Wong
      Stephanie Wong on January 26, 2017 at 8:34 pm

      Hi Stevi,

      Thanks for leaving a comment. I only saw Xi Xi vocalizing at Xiang Lu’s direction during my study period.

      Stephanie

  3. Karen Tse
    Karen Tse on January 27, 2017 at 9:24 am

    Hi Stephanie, thanks for the update. Do you know if Tai Shan is participating in this years breeding program^

    Happy Chinese New Year!

    Karen

    • Nathan
      Nathan on January 29, 2017 at 8:48 pm

      Hi Karen,

      We should be able to find out in the next few weeks. Stay tuned.